Totternhoe Metal Recycling Ltd (TMR) was also ordered to pay over £2,000 in costs following the incident at its recycling centre, The Lime Works, in April 2014.
Luton Magistrates Court heard how the 40-year-old worker from Bedfordshire, who does not wish to be named, had been delivering waste metal to the Totternhoe site in a transit van.
When the van was parked, the counterbalance on a wheeled crane used for unloading metal hit the rear door and caught the worker’s left hand. He lost the top of his thumb and suffered damage to his hand and arm.
The worker required skin grafts to his thumb and surgery to repair the damage to his forearm, followed by months of physiotherapy. He is still unable to use his thumb or grip anything with his left hand.
Control
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that Totternhoe had failed to put in place control measures to ensure the adequate segregation of vehicles and pedestrians, despite having identified and acted upon the issue at another site belonging to their sister company. The firm pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Emma Page said had the correct measures been in place, the injuries which have left the worker affected ‘both physically and emotionally’ could have been avoided.
She said: “The accident rate within the waste and recycling industry remains one of the highest in any industry. As in this case many of these incidents relate to contact between vehicles and pedestrians.
“Where duty holders fall short of industry standards, HSE will not hesitate to take enforcement action against those who create the risk.”
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, Totternhoe Metal Recycling declined to comment.
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