A pellet manufacturing company based in Mansfield has been fined after an employee was killed when he was pulled into an industrial blender. 

51-year-old George Major, a father of one from Mansfield was clearing material from the blender at Rettenmaier UK Manufacturing Limited, a pellet manufacturer based in Mansfield, when it unexpectedly started up. 

The subsequent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the 21 January 2011 incident found the guard had been removed from the machine and it had not been isolated and locked off from the electricity supply.  

Nottingham Crown Court heard the blender was part of a process line in which shredded recycled paper was mixed with bitumen and oil before being pressed into pellets, dried and bagged. The pellets were then used to reinforce asphalt mixes for use in road surfaces. 

The court was also told the production line was installed on a number of floors of the Crown Farm Industrial Estate building, and was computer controlled with control screens on two floors.

However, there was no computer control screen on the same floor as the blender with the control screen in use at the time of the accident on the floor below. There was no line of sight from this control screen to the blender. It was also pointed out in court that when the line was running, the factory was noisy.

Investigators found on the day of the incident Mr Major had been helping to clear a blockage from machinery when he was dragged into the blender and killed. 

The court heard there was no written system of work or instructions for isolation and no instruction to lock off isolators. There were no manuals or written instructions for operating plant. There was no proper training for staff. There were no risk assessments for any work on the plant.

Rettenmaier UK Manufacturing Limited, of Strawberry Way, Crown Farm Industrial Estate, Forest Town Mansfield, admitted breaching guilty to Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and was fined £200,000 with costs of £100,000. 

HSE Inspector Samantha Farrar said “Mr Major’s death was entirely avoidable and his life was needlessly lost. The failings by Rettenmaier UK Manufacturing Ltd caused a fatality in particularly distressing circumstances. 

“The absence of an effective health and safety management system, including a lack of a safe system of work for equipment isolation and lock-off, risk assessment and proper training for staff, meant that all workers at the site were at risk. 

“This tragic incident could have so easily been avoided if a few simple steps had been taken by the company.”

Notes to Editors: 

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. hse.gov.uk
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/
3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk

(source)

 

Lockout Tagout

 

What is Lockout / Tagout

Each year thousands of industrial machine related work accidents occur, these accidents can occur when repairing or servicing equipment, the unexpected startup or release of stored energy can cause accidental injuries or even death.

The LOCKOUT TAGOUT procedure protects the employees from risk of an accident due to the power source not being isolated.

 

The 7 steps proceedure for lockout tagout

Prepare for Shutdown

Identify the energy sources to be isolated and check that it can be isolated wiht a safety lock of lockout device

Notify all affected employees

 

Equipment Shutdown

Stop the machine. Warning: simply activating the emergency stop device or control circuit is not sufficient to protect employees; the energy must be completely isolated at the source.

Apply isolation devices

Apply your safety padlocks and lockout devices. Ensure each employee adds their own safety lock on the machinery.

Confirm no residual energy remains

Once the machinery is isolated, make sure no energy remains, even if energy is isolated it can still be dangerous   

Lockout / Tagout

The locked out equipments must be identified with specific tags informing that interventions is in progress and that it is forbidden to unlock the equipment.

Verify Isolation

Check that the device is properly locked out and isolated by attempting to activate the machinery: visual check of the presence of lock-out system and to ensure that residual energy has been dissapated.