Clearview Midlands April 2014 - Issue 149 | Page 23

INDUSTRYNEWS

powder coating
firm in court
after workers
hand injury
A Bedfordshire-based powder coating
firm has been fined after an employee
suffered serious hand injuries when
lifting equipment failed at the company
premises in Leighton Buzzard.
The worker, who does not
wish to be named, was
struck by metal items after
a basket and cradle fell
whilst being lifted by crane
into a degreasing tank. The
incident, on 26 September
2012, happened when a lifting
eyebolt attached to the crane
failed.
The cradle struck his right
hand resulting in broken bones,
lacerations, and damage to
nerves and tendons. Luton
Magistrates’ Court heard on 10
March that DT Powder Coating
Ltd – now trading as XL Powder
Coating Ltd – failed to report
the injury incident within the
15-day period specified by law.
However, after it happened, the
Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) received three separate
complaints from current and
previous employees, which
resulted in HSE serving four
Improvement Notices on the
company.
A subsequent HSE
investigation identified serious
shortcomings in the way lifting
operations were carried out
at the firm’s factory on the
Commerce Way Industrial
Estate. None of the lifting
accessories had been tested to
ensure they were safe, employees
had not received any training,
and there was no system of work
to ensure that lifting operations
were carried out safely.

The eyebolt in question
should have been screwed
securely into the framework
at the top of the basket, but
instead was poorly welded into
place. The weld eventually
failed causing the basket to
drop.

‘The cradle
struck his right
hand resulting in
broken bones’
DT Powder Coating Ltd,
registered at High Street,
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire,
was fined a total of £36,000
and ordered to pay £10,509
costs after being found guilty
to breaching Regulation
2(1) of the Health and
Safety at Work etc Act
1974, Regulation 3(2) of the
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases
and Dangerous Occurrences
Regulations 1995, and
Regulation 5 of the Provision
and Use of Work Equipment
Regulations 1998.
For more information and
guidance about how to
prevent injuries when carrying
our lifting procedures visit
http://www.hse.gov.uk/workequipment-machinery/loler.
htm

To read more, visit www.clearview-uk.com

ReCEIVE M RE
SUPPORT WITH
POLYmER
INN VATIONS

Get more from the white coats or join in the conversation on Twitter

#THEREHAULAB
APR 2014

23