Firm admits neglecting safety after three workers injured 25 April 2013

Lincolnshire-based Staples Disposables, which makes disposable paper products, has been ordered to pay more than £116,000 in fines and costs, after three workers suffered hand injuries using unguarded machines at its Fulbeck Heath factory.

Bruno Jorge, 32, of Sleaford had to have his left thumb amputated after it was crushed in unguarded machinery on a production line on 26 July 2011.

One month later, on 25 August, agency worker Yelena Semenchenko, 30, of Lincoln, cut her finger on the blade of a napkin folding machine.

And 12 months later, Simon Burnett, 46, of Navenby, lost all four fingers of his right hand, after it was caught between unguarded rollers.

Lincoln Crown Court heard how Jorge was operating a new production line, and accessed a machine to clear a blockage, which was normal practice. However, his hand was drawn into the rollers.

HSE found that the manufacturer had over-ridden interlocked guards on the enclosure surrounding the equipment during commissioning, so engineers could access the machine. Staple Disposables' management knew about the missing guards but failed to take any action to reinstate the interlocks.

Meanwhile, HSE's investigation into the second incident, involving Semenchenko, found an electrically-interlocked guard had been removed.

The company had installed the guard on the napkin folding machine after a similar accident in 2007, for which it had been prosecuted by HSE, but had instigated a process to remove them for specific production runs, within a matter of weeks.

As for Burnett's incident, HSE discovered that it was normal practice to lock operators in an enclosure designed to keep them away from the dangerous parts of a toilet roll manufacturing line. Supervisors and management had failed to identify and stop this highly dangerous practice.

Staples Disposables pleaded guilty to three charges of breaching Sections 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and one of breaching Section 3(1) of the same Act.

"Staples Disposables had a poor health and safety management system and failed to suitably supervise factory operations," comments HSE inspector David Lefever.

"The company was well aware that machines should have interlocked guards in place to prevent people accessing dangerous moving parts of the machinery, yet it continued to put workers at risk over a prolonged period. Injury was inevitable."

Brian Tinham

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Health & Safety Executive

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