Ken Mills Engineering Ltd., fined £68,494 after worker lost an arm whilst repairing a haylage baler.

Littleborough-based Ken Mills Engineering Ltd., was fined £68,494 (inc. costs) after one of their employees lost an arm whilst repairing a haylage baler on site.

The circumstances were:

• On 9 February 9 2017, the baler was being repaired at a farm near Wakefield.
• Several engineers had been involved over a number of days to repair the baler. 
• This work had not been subject to a risk assessment. 
• Engineers were not provided with effective information, instruction and training for this activity. 
• They were left to devise their own system of work, which consequently was not safe.
• They relied on techniques they were familiar with from the factory.
• These techniques which were not suitable for the site circumstances. 
• As a result, the vertical compaction ram was inadvertently initiated trapping and crushing the worker’s arm.
• The arm was partially severed at the scene; required several operations and following medical complications was amputated from above the elbow.

The HSE inspector  commented:
“It was reasonably practicable for Ken Mills Engineering Ltd to have done more to ensure engineers were working safely. This incident could have easily been prevented if the company had assessed the repair activity; identified site specific hazards and typical custom and practice, provided a safe working procedure and then effective information, instruction and training for that procedure and the repair work that day”.