EDM fined £8k+ for missing guards on lathes

EDM Ltd., a Manchester firm which manufactures flight simulator equipment, was fined £8,332 (inc. costs) for using unsafe machinery.

The circumstances were:

• EDM did not have a system in place to make sure machines were fitted with guards. 
• Staff had also not received training on how to use guards, and supervision at the factory was poor.
• Magistrates heard the firm had identified several missing machine guards in a health and safety document it produced, but failed to take any action.
• An HSE inspector first visited EDM in September 2013 after receiving an anonymous complaint. 
• Two Improvement Notices were issued requiring guards to be fitted on two metalworking lathes.
• The same inspector returned to the site in June 2014 and noticed that guards were missing on two other machines. 
• This time Prohibition Notices were served to prevent them from being used until guards were fitted

The HSE Inspector said:

“EDM Ltd manufactures equipment used to keep the aviation industry safe but it failed to ensure the safety of its own employees. The Improvement Notices HSE issued in September 2013 should have acted as a wake-up call to improve machine guards but I found guards were still missing when I revisited the factory nine months later. There was simply no point in the company identifying missing guards in a health and safety document if it wasn’t going to act on its findings.”