A Manchester waste plastic recycling firm has been made to pay £20,000 after an employee suffered ‘life changing injuries’ to his hand when it was dragged into a granulator machine.

CP Plastics Limited was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following an incident at Manchester New Road, Middleton, Manchester on 4 March 2015.

Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard how the 50-year-old employee, who has not been named, had been feeding a granulator machine with waste plastic when the machine slowed down.

He went to look through an inspection hatch to find the cause and was reaching inside the machine in order to pull through the plastic that was slowing the machine, when the plastic wrapped around his right hand and dragged it into the granulator blades.

The court heard that the employee, who has been deaf since birth, suffered the loss of his right hand and has been seriously affected by the injury, with the incident leaving him unable to drive or work and making it difficult to use sign language to communicate.

The HSE investigation found there was no safe system of work in place. The inspection hatch should not have been on the machine and employees should not have had access to the dangerous cutting blade.

The investigation also found that the company had failed to provide employers’ liability compulsory insurance (ELCI) at the time of the incident.

CP Plastics Ltd pleaded guilty to two offences, one breach of Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, which ensures that employers must take action to prevent access to any dangerous part of machinery, and one breach under Section 1 of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, which requires employers to maintain insurance against liability for bodily injury or disease sustained by employees.

The company was fined £1,500, but the judge also ordered CP Plastics to pay £17,000 in compensation to the injured employee, and £1,500 towards prosecution costs.

Life-changing injury

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Emily Osborne said: “This incident could easily been prevented if the company had suitable measures in place to ensure workers could not access the rotating cutters in the granulating machine. This would include ensuring guards were fitted correctly on the machine.

“The firm’s failures led to a worker suffering a severe and life-changing injury. Every employer needs to ensure that they have employers’ liability compulsory insurance in place to ensure employees can claim compensation if they are injured or become ill as a result of their work.

“It is completely unacceptable to not have basic insurance in place, and, where such breaches are identified, they will be pursued by HSE.”

Dangers of the waste and resources sector

The waste and recycling industry has been branded as one of the most dangerous to work in, and figures released by HSE in July revealed that 11 people, including six members of the public, were fatally injured in the waste and resources sector in 2014/15.

In 2013, HSE published the ‘Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) blueprint 2012-15’ to outline ‘immediate action points’ that employers can take to provide clearer training and safer workplaces.

Further information is available in the HSE’s ‘Statistics on fatal injuries in the workplace in Great Britain 2015’.