Ineos Enterprises Ltd has been prosecuted for ignoring basic safety guidelines after a maintenance worker seriously injured his right hand at a Runcorn factory. Ineos, of South Parade in Runcorn, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £6,607 towards the cost of the prosecution
Ineos introduced a new policy in May 2010 making the wearing protective gloves mandatory for most workers on the site. However, they failed to follow health and safety guidance which advises against wearing gloves when using metalworking lathes.
The company ordered its staff to wear protective gloves on the factory floor, even though some workers tried to explain that there were often specific reasons for not wearing them. Several employees were reprimanded for not wearing gloves following the policy’s introduction, and the injured worker was reminded to wear his gloves by his line manager on the morning of the incident.
He was removing the rust off a hitch pin, used to connect a trailer to a vehicle, when his glove got caught in the rotating mechanism, dragging in his hand. The 58-year-old worker lost his ring finger and suffered damage to his middle and little finger after his gloved hand was pulled into the machinery. HSE Investigators also discovered that the metalworking machine and two pillar drills at the factory had not been fitted with safety guards.
The machine which caused the worker’s injuries
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