Corus UK fined over production line accident
3 Mar 2010
London - Steel firm Corus UK Ltd has been fined £5,000 today after a worker was injured while clearing a jam in the production line at a factory in Skinningrove, East Cleveland. The company, trading as Corus Special Profiles, was also ordered to pay costs of £5,074 after pleading guilty to health & safety law breaches, at Teesside Magistrates’ Court.
On 24 May 2008, David Harrison, a team leader at the company’s Skinningrove factory, was working on the mill floor where steel is rolled into long beams. He was attempting to clear a jam in a machine, which requires an operator activating controls above the mill floor.
The operator was unable to see Harrison and so instructions were relayed via a third man using a combination of hand signals and shouting. Mr Harrison was struck by moving machinery, severely injuring his right leg.
After the case, HSE Inspector Bruno Porter, explained: “This incident could have easily been avoided, but instead has left Mr Harrison with a badly injured leg for which he still needs medical help. Our investigations found that relaying instructions through another person was common practice on the mill floor, as radios were not always available and the noise in the factory made them hard to use.
“Despite the fact that clearing jams in machinery was a common operation, there was no record of a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for this activity and no recorded safe system of work in place. While Corus was aware of the hazards and had implemented safe operating procedures to deal with some of the risks, it failed to install a full safe isolation system, which had been identified as necessary prior to the incident.”
