Kent firm in court after employee severs toes

Anton Hunter, an engineer with G&P Machine Shop in
Queensborough, was helping a colleague unload a delivery of fabricated steel
sheets at a nearby site when a 700kg sheet became dislodged from a magnet and
fell directly on his feet.

His big toe and the next two on his right foot were sliced
off and he suffered fractures to all the toes on his left foot. He has since
had the second toe on the left foot amputated due to his big toe shifting
following surgery. Mr Hunter, from Sheerness, has since returned to work in a
reduced capacity but is still regaining his walking skills.

The incident, on 17 February 2014, was investigated by the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which prosecuted (12 March) G&P Machine
Shop at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court after finding the firm failed to check the
magnet used was the correct one for the job.

The court heard that the two workers had unloaded two
smaller metal sheets successfully but a third had become detached from the
magnet and fallen. The two men believed the failure was due to the cloth around
the magnet so they removed it and started unloading the larger 700kg sheets.

One lift was achieved but the second failed mid-way and the
sheet slipped from the magnet just as Mr Hunter jumped down from the back of
the delivery vehicle and was helping to guide the sheet.

HSE identified that the magnet, which had been on hire to
G&P Machine Shop for a month, was not designed for the size and weight of
the sheets involved, either the smaller or the larger type the employees had
been asked to deliver. Both had a 12mm depth whereas instructions for the
magnet stated that anything less than 20mm should not have been lifted and the
maximum weight was 400kg.

G&P Machine Shop of Argent Road, Queensborough,
Sheerness, Kent, was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1036 after
admitting a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Rob Hassell said: “Anton Hunter, a young engineer, had his life put on hold
after suffering a debilitating injury that may impair his ability to walk for
the foreseeable future. The incident could have been prevented if G&P Machine
Shop had carried out suitable checks to ensure the lift was within the
operating capacities of the magnet. Instead, it seems that in an attempt to
improve deliveries, an entirely inappropriate piece of lifting equipment was
chosen.

“Companies should ensure the equipment they want to use is
fit for its intended purpose. Manuals for lifting devices are available to
download or direct from the makers. The safe working load (SWL) of lifting
equipment is a maximum capacity in optimum conditions – any deviation needs to
be investigated and tested.”