University fined over arm injury
Warwick University has been ordered to pay more than £5,000 after an agency worker suffered severe injuries to his arm when he was dragged into a harvesting machine at the institution's horticultural research site.
Gareth Keal, from Boston, was working on a tractor-mounted bulb harvesting machine at the university site in Kirton, Boston, on October 13, 2008, when his hand became trapped between rollers in the device.
The 28-year-old was pulled into the machine up to his shoulder and suffered severe soft tissue damage to his right arm including damage to the muscles, tendons and ligaments.
The University of Warwick, Coventry, pleaded guilty to beaching Regulation 11(1)(a) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was handed a £3,000 fine with £2,091.20 costs.
At Boston Magistrates' Court, Standen Engineering Ltd of Station Road, Ely, Cambridgeshire, also pleaded guilty to failing to supply machinery that met essential health and safety regulations. Standen was fined £800 with £1,726.71 costs.
The machine, which had been imported, was originally a potato harvester but had been modified before being supplied by Standen Engineering Ltd.
The HSE investigation found Standen Engineering failed to ensure the harvester satisfied essential health and safety requirements by preventing exposure to moving parts of the machinery. In addition, the university failed to take measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of the machinery.