"Sadly .... this incident was both foreseeable and preventable"

Proper machine guarding can prevent injuries and fatalities in our industry. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted incidents where a lack of proper machine guarding resulted in a worker injury or even worse a worker fatality. Here is a story that emphasizes the need for proper machinery guarding in our plants. 

A manufacturer of aluminium containers in the United Kingdom was fined of over 20,000 pounds during the week of December 8, 2013 for safety failings after an employee suffered serious injuries when her head became trapped between two machines.

The female worker was attempting to retrieve aerosol cans that had fallen from the production line, beneath packaging machinery, at a company which produces aluminium containers, during the week of July 8, 2012. 

The local magistrate heard during the week of December 8, 2013 that as the female worker reached into an unguarded gap between the packaging machine and the strapping machine, a can collection basket lowered, trapping her head. 

Her cries were quickly heard by colleagues, who released her from the machine. She was taken to hospital and treated for a fractured cheek and eye socket.

The female worker also suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and was unable to return to work until this October 2013. She also continues to experience damage to her vision in one eye.

The incident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which found there was no guard to prevent access to dangerous moving parts of the machinery. HSE served a Prohibition Notice halting further use of the equipment until adequate guarding was installed. 

The company put fixed mesh guarding in place later the same day to bring the machine back into production, demonstrating that it was straightforward to control the risk.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision of Work Equipment Regulations 1988. That company was fined over 20,000 pounds.

Speaking after the prosecution, HSE Inspector said: "(Company) failed to guard this machine and the gap was large enough to allow (worker) access to dangerous moving machine parts. Sadly for (worker) this incident was both foreseeable and preventable."

"Luckily, colleagues were quickly able to release (worker), which minimized her injuries. However, it has had a massive impact on her and she has only recently returned to work, some 18 months after the incident."

"This prosecution should a strong signal to companies to identify and act on the risks presented by production machinery and to review the measures they have in place regularly."

According to the Health & Safety Executive this incident could have been prevented with proper machinery guarding. There are numerous unanswered questions in the information provided in this article. Such as:

• Were the machines new or old? Because, older machines may not be current with today's safety standards.
• Had the lack of machine guarding in this incident been previously cited on a safety audit? If not, when was the last safety audit, and why was this missed?

Those questions would have been asked, and hopefully addressed during periodic safety audits. 

The Health and Safety Excellence's information and guidance on installing, using and maintain work equipment and machinery is available here.

This incident also described the journey that this worker has undertaken to go back to work. So many times one view injuries as only being physical in nature. One tends to forget the mental injuries that can result from an incident. In addition to the physical damage to her body this worker dealt with mental injuries in the form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

The National Institute of Mental Health has some useful information about PTSD here.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for PTSD has some great information here.

The following ongoing signs and symptoms may be an indication of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD):

• Flashbacks (e.g., recurring scenes, pictures, and conversations)
• Nightmares and/or sleep problems
• Difficulty concentrating or communicating
• Feelings of anger, anxiety, sadness, depression, or crying a lot
• Fear of being alone or only wanting to be alone
• Frightening or recurring thoughts
• Feeling numb as though you're on "automatic pilot"

As this incident has shown to us the physical scars that an accident causes may fade overtime, but  unfortunately the mental scars last much longer.

The APSB wishes the injured worker (as well as all injured workers) a full recovery from all physical and mental injuries that they suffered.

Please comment.