Construction firms sentenced after road worker loses arm

Three construction firms have been ordered to pay over
£400,000 in fines and costs for serious safety failings, after a worker lost
his arm when it became trapped in poorly-guarded machinery during a road
surfacing operation in Hertfordshire.

The 53-year old road worker was preparing a chip spreader –
a machine used to scatter stone chips on asphalt – for resurfacing works on the
A1001 in Hatfield when his left arm became caught in the machine’s rotating
auger, causing serious injuries.

The highly-experienced worker, from Rushden,
Northamptonshire who does not wish to be named, had to have his arm amputated
shortly after the incident and has been unable to return to work since.

The incident, on 8 March 2012, was investigated by the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which prosecuted Amey LG Ltd, Lafarge
Aggregates Ltd (acting as Amey Lafarge, a joint venture in charge of the
operation) and Ashmac Construction Ltd, who provided workers to the joint
venture, for multiple safety breaches at Watford Magistrates’ Court.

The court was told (25 March), in order to prepare the chip
spreader for use, the worker placed on the site by Ashmac Construction Ltd
started the machine and the rotation of its internal auger. During the
operation of setting the machine up for use his arm became entangled in
dangerous moving parts.

HSE’s investigation revealed a series of safety failings on
the part of all three companies.

HSE found the worker, who was not formally trained in the
use of the spreader, and his colleagues were only given one evening to
familiarise themselves with the machine by Amey Lafarge when they started work
on site six months before the incident.

Amey Lafarge did not give the workers any instruction or
training in how to operate the machine safely, including how to secure guards,
nor were they given a copy of the operator’s manual for the machine. In
addition, there was no safe system of work in place to ensure that the machine
was set up and operated properly and that its use was restricted to those who were
trained.

The Amey Lafarge did have a risk assessment and a
site-specific method statement but these did not reflect the reality of the
controls in place for the use of the chip spreader. Indeed, the risk assessment
described a different type of chip spreader than the one used on site.

Ashmac Construction Ltd did not take reasonably practicable
steps to ensure workers that it placed on site had received appropriate
information, instruction and training in the safe use of the chipper they were
operating.

Amey LG Ltd, of the Sherard Building, Edmund Halley Road,
Oxford, was fined £150,015 and ordered to pay costs of £18,000 after pleading
guilty to one breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
1974.

Lafarge Aggregates Ltd, of Portland House, Bickenhill Lane,
Solihull, Birmingham, was fined £175,015 and ordered to pay costs of £18,000
after pleading guilty to one breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at
Work etc. Act 1974.

Ashmac Construction Ltd of Pavillion Court, Pavilion Drive,
Northampton, was fined £30,015 and ordered to pay costs of £18,000 after
pleading guilty to a breach of section 3(1) the Health and Safety at Work etc.
Act 1974.

Following the case, HSE inspector Gavin Bull, said: “This tragic incident has left a worker with life-changing
injuries. It was wholly avoidable. The risks associated with plant operating
are well-known in the industry. This incident highlights the need for workers to receive
the information, instruction and training they need to operate plant safely and
for companies to put in place measures to ensure the plant is operated safely
on site.”