Worker caught in folding/gluing line

Hipak Packaging Limited, a Buxton packaging company was fined £5,138 (inc. costs) after a worker sustained a serious injury to his right hand.

The circumstances were:

• The accident occurred on a folding/gluing line for cardboard boxes.
• In October 2013, an employee was cleaning a moving roller this line.
• He reached inside and suffered serious damage to two fingers on his right hand.

The HSE Inspector said:“This accident was clearly avoidable. The company failed to provide a safe system of work for employees who needed to clean glue off rollers from their folding and gluing machine. It was left up to the employees to decide how they went about this and the company should have instructed and trained their staff in a safe procedure which involved ensuring the machine was isolated from power before employees put their hands inside it.”