It is commonplace now to perform a risk assessment on a new
procedure or activity. A risk assessment is where you identify hazards, analyze
or evaluate the risk associated with that hazard, determine appropriate ways to
eliminate or control the hazard. Many incidents posted in the Aluminium Plant
Safety Blog are cited by pertinent government agencies for a failure to perform
a risk assessment. Here is a recent incident.
A manufacturing employee suffered
a deep cut to his elbow as a steel coil was being handled near a bonding
machine on in late 2014. The United Kingdom based firm admitted breaching
health and safety laws. The guilty plea came after a Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) investigation found that there was no safe system of work in
place covering the incident. They also found that no suitable and sufficient
risk assessment had been carried out for the task. The firm which manufactures
engine parts has been fined £5,000 in the summer of 2016.
The HSE concluded that the
accident could have been avoided had reasonably practicable precautions been
taken. The incident happened after an employee bypassed a machine guard in an
attempt to connect the ends of a steel coil that was running through a machine
designed to bond aluminium alloy to steel. He was passing one of the ends of
coil up to a colleague, who was standing above him on a gantry, when he was
told by a manager to get out of the area. When the employee let go of the steel
coil, it slipped from the grasp of his colleague on the gantry and fell, causing
a deep laceration to his left elbow.
The head of the health and safety
division at the Crown Office, said: "This was a foreseeable and avoidable
accident which resulted in the serious injury of an employee. "(Company) accepted
liability and the Crown accepted their guilty plea to the contraventions of the
Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.
"Since this incident the
company has introduced new risk assessments and has put into practice safe
systems of work."
He added: "It is unfortunate
that these long-standing issues were only dealt with following a serious
accident and it is hoped that other companies learn from this incident.”
The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog hopes
that the workers was able to fully recover from his injury. We hope that mental
health counseling was offered to the injured worker and any coworkers that assisted
him during this incident. All too often we have found on our travels throughout
the industry that after the workers physical scars fade the mental scars
linger.
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