A Lincolnshire man was drawn by his right arm into contra-rotating haulm rollers whilst cleaning and emptying a potato grading machine. The man suffered serious injuries and consequently the two partners of Leverton Brothers farming company have been fined.
Lincoln Magistrates Court heard how the employee was cleaning and emptying a potato grading machine when his right arm was drawn into the area of the machine that was, dangerously, left unguarded. To check that the grader was emptying, the man climbed onto the side of and reached across, attempting to move any remaining potatoes. The rollers caught his right glove, drawing his arm in. He was trapped for 45 minutes. An HSE investigation identified that a safe stop procedure could have been followed, and that a guard should gave been in place over the contra-rotating rollers. David and Philip Leverton both pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3 (1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. Each received a fine of £5,000 and were ordered to pay costs of £892.10 Following the hearing, HSE inspector Martin Giles said: “This injury could have been easily prevented and the risk should have been identified. Employers should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery.” Kathryn Hudson, Partner and specialist agricultural accidents solicitor at Bridge McFarland said: “Injuries like this are far too common, yet easily avoidable through good practice of health and safety procedure. Employers owe a duty of care to protect their employees and to provide safe machinery and in this case the employer failed in their duty to protect the victim from harm. “Farming, just like any industry that involves working with heavy machinery, can be an incredibly dangerous job. Ensuring that guards are in place is a relatively simple way of minimising this danger.” If you have suffered an injury working with farm machinery contact us today to find out if you can make a claim.
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