Following a number of safety failings, after one of its workers suffered severe wrist injuries in an accident at work, A Cardiff based metal roofing company have been fined .
Darren Gillard, 42, was using a piece of machinery on the production line at Euro Clad Ltd, who make metal roof panels, in April 2010. The machine positions wooden blocks underneath the packs of roof panels.
Some of the blocks in the machine became jammed and with the machine still in automatic mode, Mr Gillard proceeded to enter the enclosure. To free the jammed blocks, he reached underneath the machine, however once he did so the machine started up again crushing his wrist between the blocks and the frame.
After undergoing three operations to insert a metal plate into his wrist and skin grafts to treat severe skin abrasions, the Euro Clad employee was off work for four months.
In Court it was heard that the two meter high perimeter fence surrounding the machine had a broken interlocked gate, which enabled employees to gain access to the enclosure without properly making the machine safe to work on.
For failing to ensure that the correct measure had been taken when accessing dangerous pieces of machinery, the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) prosecuted Euro Clad Ltd and fined £20,000 with £6,000 costs after the investigation into the accident at work, found that the gate has been tampered with and tied open.