Crush injury puts playground maker in court 08 May 2014

Rubber playground surfaces manufacturer Createscape has been fined £3,500 with £761 costs, after a worker's arm was pulled into an unguarded conveyor belt and crushed at its factory near Goole.

The worker was trying to clean a build-up of shredded rubber from a conveyor at the back of the plant's shredding machines when his arm was pulled between the belt and a roller.

The court heard that he was inside a fenced enclosure. There was an interlock system on the gates, designed to protect employees from the moving machinery inside. However, an investigation by HSE (Health and Safety Executive) found the conveyor had not been connected to the interlock system.

Cleaning the rubber shreds from around the conveyor belt was a regular activity, but Createscape had not properly assessed the risks.

"Createscape failed to take effective steps to prevent workers from accessing dangerous parts of the rubber shred conveyor or stopping the movement of machinery before a worker got into the danger zone," comments HSE Inspector Dr Nicholas Tosney.

"Fixed guarding or connecting the conveyor to the interlock system would have prevented the incident, and the worker's injury, from happening."

Brian Tinham

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