Firm fined £12k as worker suffers life-changing injuries
A worker was left with life-changing injuries after being wrapped around a pipe and unable to breath while at work - resulting in his employer being fined £12,000.
Craig Horton broke his arm in two places following the horrific incident at Stone-based ASLR Fabrication Services. He was lucky not to be killed, according to a safety watchdog.
The 26-year-old, also from Stone, was carrying out a process using a pipe threading machine for cutting threads onto the end of steel pipework.
He had used the machinery for the first time ever the previous day.
Mr Horton placed the pipe into the jaws of the threading machine and used a foot pedal to commence the machine cycle but his clothing got snagged.
He was dragged and wrapped around the pipe and completely unable to breathe properly.
Two colleagues rushed to his aid and cut him free of the 'hoodie' he was wearing to enable him to breathe again.
After he was released from the machine Mr Horton had to undergo an operation to have two metal plates and 12 pins fitted into his arm which has affected the way he goes about his daily life.
Following the incident which happened on September 12 last year the Health and Safety Executive prosecuted ASLR Fabrication Services for health and safety breaches, stating the incident was entirely preventable.
The watchdog argued a suitable and sufficient risk assessment should have been carried out and effective clamps should have been fitted to hold the pipe.
They also said guarding devices could have been put in place to prevent access to the pipe as it rotated.
At a recent hearing at Stafford Magistrates' Court ASLR Fabrication Services admitted breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £6,000.
The company also pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and was fined another £6,000.
The HSE was awarded full costs of £1,377.
HSE inspector Kath Blunt said: "This accident was entirely preventable. This could very easily have been a fatality.
"It is imperative that risk assessments are carried out in order to identify significant risks and suitable control measures to be put in place to eliminate or reduce such risks."
ASLR Fabrication Services was founded in 1983 and supplies pre-fabricated pipework to fire protection businesses, building services, water and processing industries throughout the UK.
