Renold Power Transmission Ltd have been fi ned £180,000, and ordered to pay the additional prosecution costs of £8,946, after admitting breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure the safety of its employees. The deceased suffered fatal injuries when he was crushed to death by a 740kg slab of metal during the assembly of a metal gearbox case at Renold’s factory.
The HSE investigation found that the metal case was the largest ever produced at the site by Renold. Despite this, Renold had failed to carry out a proper risk assessment or provide training for operators and supervisors. The deceased had removed the chains from one of the sides of the gearbox cases so he could align them properly and secure them together. One of the sides fell on the deceased due to an attempt to hammer a connecting dowel through the sections.
This case serves as a reminder of the risks of working with heavy objects in the engineering and manufacturing industries, and the need for proper risk assessments and training to be carried out. A total of 25 workers were killed and more than 4,000 suffered major injuries in the manufacturing industry in Great Britain last year.
Information on preventing injuries is available at www.hse.gov.uk/manufacturing
