Firm Fined After Pleading Guilty Over Incident

A storage equipment company has been fined £10,000 in relation to an incident which saw a man suffer serious facial and back injuries after being pulled into unguarded machinery.

Stakapal Ltd of Cannock pleaded guilty to breaching work equipment safety regulations over the case in December 2010, which happened when 41-year-old employee Adrian Taylor was adjusting rollers on a multi-roll forming machine.

His high-visibility vest and jacket became caught in the machine’s spindle, leading to him to suffer cuts to the back of his head, face, back and right arm.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive revealed that a fixed guard which would have protected Mr Taylor and other employees from the dangerous parts of the machine had been removed around three years previously. The worker was also not supervised in the correct manner.

Stephen Nye, a Partner and workplace injury expert at Irwin Mitchell’s Birmingham office, urged firms to ensure the same mistakes in this case are not repeated again.

He outlined: “Every worker deserves the right to be able to carry out his work in the safest possible manner, and this terrible case highlights the impact that workplace safety failings can have on victims.

“Like many of the cases we work on, this devastating case demonstrates why machine guarding is an absolute necessity, alongside the correct use of risk assessments, the right supervision and a general adherence to safety regulations.

“Safety is a fundamental aspect of work that employers cannot ignore. We hope that lessons are learnt from this incident which other firms can use to improve the protection offered to their staff.”