Dinnington: Firm fined after worker has his arm crushed in machinery

Roger Marshall was working at Hi-Tech Special Steels Ltd on Rotherham Road, Dinnington, when his arm was crushed by a machine he was using to straighten steel coils.

The worker had to have his arm amputated after the accident on February 11, 2014.

Rotherham Magistrates’ Court heard the machine was still being set-up to draw the steel coil at the time of the incident, and the worker had only drawn two lengths before stopping because the bars were coming out unevenly.

While repositioning the displaced metal he was struck by the clamp head of the machine ‘ram’ which crushed his left arm against the die block.

The company admitted that they had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment that may have helped to identify the shortcomings in machinery guarding.

Although Mr Marshall was an experienced operator, the training he received did not cover health and safety issues. Had these gaps in guarding been identified and Mr Marshall had been trained for health and safety purposes, it was said that the accident would not have happened.

The firm pleaded guilty after a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the ‘drawbench’ machine to be inadequately guarded, with ready access to dangerous parts.

The firm was fined £10,000, ordered to pay £1000 victim surcharge and ordered to pay £2,167 costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Hi-Tech Special Steels is a privately owned company originally established in 1985 to provide customers with special products not available in general supply.

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