Tata Steel has been fined as two workers suffered hand injuries on two separate incidents involving machinery.
A 52-year-old employee lost part of his little finger when his left hand was caught in an inadequately guarded machine while undergoing refresher training. A 25 year old employee also lost two thirds of his left hand and his middle and ring fingers while trying to unblock a steel tube manufacturing line that also did not have suitable guarding. These were two separate incidents.
Such incidents should not be occurring in a well established firm like Tata Steel, and the result is significant fines for clear health and safety failings.
The two incidents that took place on 12th September 2014 and 19th February 2015 were investigated by the Health and Safety Executive, who found a failure to appropriately guard and manage the machines in order to prevent risks arising from dangerous parts.
The fine
Tata UK Limited, of Millbank, London, were fined £1.8 million for the first offence and £185,000, totalling a £1.98 million fine, and ordered to pay £22,500 in costs after pleading guilty to two counts of breaching the Health and Safety at Work at 1974.
The Health and Safety Executive inspector Mark Austin after the hearing said:
“Guarding of dangerous parts of machinery is a fundamental of ensuring workers safety, HSE will not hesitate to hold those accountable who do not fulfil their legal obligations, especially if that results in someone receiving life changing injuries.”
The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for health and safety in the workplace. Their aim is to reduce the injury, ill health and work related deaths.
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