Company fined for inadequate machine guards

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned correct safety precautions must be taken when using machinery following the prosecution of an employer after two members of staff suffered injuries at work.

Geraint Jones and Susan Jones received lacerations to their hands after both were drawn into a danger area whilst feeding plastic into a machine in two separate incidents last year.

Holyhead magistrates' court fined Rehau £7,500 after it pleaded guilty to breaches of Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work and Equipment Regulations 1998 and ordered it to pay costs of £3,340.92.

David Wynne, a HSE inspector, revealed one machine did not have any physical guarding and the other lacked the required safety devices.

"Safety guards and devices on machines are put there for a very good reason - the safety of the machine operators - and they need to be appropriate for the risk," he said.

Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work and Equipment Regulations 1998 requires employers to prevent access to any dangerous part of machinery and to stop its movement before any part of a person enters a danger zone.