Worker’s jaw shattered after Kent recycling firm neglects safety 28 July 2014

A Kent recycling firm has been fined £7,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 in costs after an employee had his jaw shattered into "pieces like cornflakes" when he was hit by a piece of plastic pipe ejected from a bandsaw.

The worker was cutting the old gas pipe for recycling at Kingsnorth Waste Management's site in Hoo, Rochester. As he fed the domed section of the pipe into the bandsaw, the blade teeth stuck in the plastic, rotated it and ejected it at high speed – striking him in the throat and chin, and breaking upper and lower jaw bones while bursting his jaw hinges.

Early in its investigation, HSE identified that, after the incident, there had been two further similar incidents, including one where the worker was a 16-year-old trainee. As a result, a prohibition notice was served on Kingsnorth Waste Management, preventing any further use of the bandsaws for cutting this sort of material.

HSE found the company had not identified the added risks of using the bandsaws to cut across cylindrical material – such as rotation and ejection. Further, there were no measures, such as the use of jigs clamps or wedges, to allow the machine to be more safely used.

"Kingsnorth Waste Management should have properly investigated how the bandsaws operated and fully understood the risks of use that were outlined in the instruction manual," states HSE inspector Gordon Chase.

"That simple exercise would have demonstrated the need to put effective controls in place to safeguard their employees," he continues.

"The use of simple clamps or wedges, or the use of alternative cutting equipment, would have allowed the job to be safely carried out and avoided the life-changing injuries that this worker suffered."

Chase makes the point that waste processing and recycling are high-risk industries with a disproportionately large share of fatal and serious injuries.

"Both individual companies and the industry collectively, must improve the way that health and safety, both of employees and the public, is managed," he warns.

BrianTinham

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Health & Safety Executive

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