October 15th, 2009
A pet food manufacturing company has been fined £10,000 after one of its employees was crushed to death in a piece of machinery.
John O’Connor, 38, had been working at the Butcher’s Pet Care factory in Northamptonshire and entered a palletising machine to clear a blockage.
However, when he moved the can of pet food that had become jammed, the fully-automated machine restarted.
Mr O’Conor was pulled into its workings and was crushed to death.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that staff should not have been able to access the moving parts of machines, which should all have had guards in place.
Butcher’s operations director Philip Thompson was fined for breaching work equipment regulations and was ordered to pay a fine and compensation.
HSE inspector Neil Craig said: "This was far from being an isolated incident. The unfenced gap between the stair rails had been there for nearly two years."
According to HSE statistics, there were 35 fatal injuries to workers in manufacturing between 2007 and 2008.
Tags: Butcher, Conor, Fatal Injuries, Food Manufacturing, Gap, Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Hse, Manufacturing Company, Moving Parts, Neil Craig, Northamptonshire, O Connor, Operations Director, Pet Care, Pet Food, Philip Thompson, Stair Rails, Statistics
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March 16th, 2009
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has blamed inappropriate safety regulations for causing the death of an employee at a pet food firm.
Marcus Snow was employed in the packing department of the unnamed company when the incident occurred in February 2006, the Workplace Law Network reports.
A machine used to transfer cans onto a conveyor jammed and Mr Snow bypassed the guards in order to climb in and free it.
However, the pick-up unit restarted and crushed Mr Snow against a stack of trays, causing his death by asphyxiation.
The HSE has prosecuted the company and has warned both employers and workers against the dangers of unprotected machinery.
She commented: "This tragic incident was entirely foreseeable and entirely preventable. The poor standards of machinery guarding on site meant that it was only a matter of time before the risk of serious personal injury was realised."
According to figures released by the HSE, 229 people were killed at work in 2007-08.
Tags: Cans, Conveyor, Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Health Safety, Hse, Matter Of Time, Packing Department, Pet Food, Risk, Safety Deficiencies, Safety Regulations, Serious Personal Injury, Stack, Tragic Incident, Unnamed Company, Workplace Law
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