Philip Grace, age 43, of Liverpool, lost part of his right arm after the incident on January 26 2014, when it became trapped in a conveyor belt at Recresco Ltd’s Manisty Wharf site in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
Liverpool Crown Court heard today (June 18) that the incident occurred after Mr Grace’s safety glove got caught on a moving conveyor belt and pulled into the glass sorting machine on which he was carrying out maintenance.
His arm was severed from above the wrist and attempts to reattach it were unsuccessful, the court heard. The extensive surgery Mr Grace has since undergone to repair his arm has left the father of one with limited mobility and he lives in constant pain, it was claimed.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said its investigation found ‘multiple failings’ by Recresco which put their own and agency workers at risk. HSE said the company had failed to assess the risks associated with working on moving conveyor belts as well as ensuring the machinery across their site was properly guarded.
According to HSE, the company did not have a safe system of work in place and there was insufficient information, instruction or training relating to the conveyors, which ‘routinely exposed their workers to dangerous situations’.
Recresco Ltd was fined £50,000 with costs £21,625.70 and a £120 victim surcharge after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
A Recresco spokesman said: “Recresco Ltd extends its sympathies and apologies to Mr Grace and his family. The areas which were identified as of concern were rectified very rapidly.”
Following the case, HSE’s Inspector Jane Carroll, said: “Philip Grace’s life has been deeply affected by this entirely preventable incident. The need for safe systems of work, correct guarding, staff being trained and risk assessments being carried out are the basics of health and safety for a company like Recresco Ltd.
“Companies must recognise the need for proper safe systems of work, guarding and training to protect workers who are operating or maintaining heavy machinery like the conveyor belts used in the recycling industry.”
Recresco
Recresco was started in 1978 by Alan Gent and is now managed by his four sons. As well as glass, the firm also processes cans, plastic and Tetrapaks at sites in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Southampton, Ellesmere Port, Torfaen and Swanscombe.
In December 2014, the firm was handed a £180,000 fine by Liverpool Crown Court after a 29-year-old worker was killed when the forklift truck he was driving overturned at the firm’s Ellesmere Port site in April 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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