A Bradford farming company was prosecuted by the HSE after an employee was seriously injured after slipping into a manure machine. The employee lost his big toe and part of the heel of his left foot, broke all his toes and severely damaged the ankle of his right foot when he fell into a manure auger.
An investigation by the HSE revealed that the auger, a screw conveyor that takes the manure out of a battery hen house, was not sufficiently guarded, allowing the the worker to slipp in and to trap both feet.
The court was told that the doctor attending the incident became so concerned for the man's welfare that firefighters seriously considered removing his foot as the only means of getting him out of the machine. The worker is currently still off work and recovering from his injuries.
The employer was fined £2,000 (with costs of £1,395) after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
Following the trial, the HSE inspector commented:
"This worker nearly lost his foot, and he has suffered long term injuries - all because his employer failed to ensure the machine was properly guarded.
... (the Compnay)needed to install properly-fitted guarding to this machine, to prevent this incident.
... Employers must thoroughly plan work activities around dangerous machinery, to account for any risks and to avoid these incidents from happening."
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