Quarry firm fined for unguarded machinery

Redditch Magistrates’ Court heard how the injured person chipped a bone in his wrist while cleaning a conveyor belt in April 2016 at Wildmoor Quarry near Bromsgrove.

An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that the guarding was unsuitable to prevent access by persons to dangerous parts of machinery. It also found that company had failed to adequately manage the risk of workers being injured when operating machinery.

Wildmoor Quarry Products Ltd of Telford, Shropshire pleaded guilty to Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of £11,174.17.

HSE quarries inspector Catherine Pickett said after the hearing: “This incident could so easily have been avoided by the company if it had provided adequate training and put in place safe working practices for cleaning and maintaining conveyor belts. Duty holders have the responsibility to ensure all dangerous machinery has the appropriate level of guarding to enable safe operation and maintenance, including cleaning operations.”

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