A recycling and waste management firm has admitted neglecting the safety of its workforce after two men were injured within a week at its site in Barnsley.
One worker fell ten feet into a skip as he clung to a conveyor that began to operate. The other man suffered serious injuries to his arm in a separate incident when he was drawn into the rollers of a crushing machine.
The two incidents were investigated by the Health and Safety Executive which prosecuted RG Wastecare Ltd, based in Carlton.
HSE found that RG Wastecare had failed to implement simple measures that would have prevented both incidents and had ignored earlier warnings from both the HSE and an external consultant in 2009 about the lack of a safe system to work.
The company pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £5,000 in costs.
HSE inspector Mark Welsh said: “Both men have suffered needless injuries owing to RG Wastecare’s disregard for vital safeguards for its workforce in what is a notoriously high-risk environment.
“In both incidents, we found there were no functioning emergency stops on the machines and several guards or covers had been removed allowing access to numerous dangerous parts.
“One of the most hazardous aspects was the company’s failure to ensure that these large and powerful machines could be safely isolated from the power source while any maintenance or preparation work was being carried out on or around them.”
