High-tech company fined £22,000 after 2 accidents within 6 weeks

Fiberweb Geosynthetics Ltd, an Essex-based hi-tech manufacturer has been fined £22,600 (inc costs) after two workers were injured in separate incidents in the space of six weeks.

Accident 1 & January 2013

• A two-man team attempted to lift a 70-90kg reel of synthetic plastic material. 
• This was almost double the weight of reels usually produced and the operation to lift it had not been attempted before. Despite that, Fiberweb Geosynthetics had not assessed the risks involved or made any changes to the system of work.
• One of the workers lost their grip on the reel causing it fall and trap his co-worker’s hand against the surface of a wrapping table.

Accident 2 27 February 2013

• An 850kg machine part was badly secured to a crane during an operation to fit it at a height of about three metres. 
• The two workers involved had not received training for the operation being undertaken.
• An eyebolt had been inserted incorrectly leading to it becoming detached whilst the load was suspended.
• A lack of appropriate supervision meant the worker had taken up a dangerous position below the item.
• Whilst manoeuvring it into place, the eyebolt detached from its thread causing the part to fall and strike a worker on the head.
• He suffered a deep cut requiring four staples to close the wound.

The HSE Inspector said:

“Both these incidents resulted from failures by Fiberweb Geosynthetics to adequately risk assess operations, issue safe working procedures, and to ensure that employees were not exposed to unacceptably high levels of risk. The second incident could easily have resulted in a much more serious injury or even death, and demonstrates the need to ensure workers are appropriately trained, their competencies properly recorded in an accessible form, and that there is a suitable level of supervision reflecting the degree of risk involved in the operation.”