TRAINING - 26.05.2022

Poor training led to serious hand injury

What happened?

In October 2019 the young worker had been instructed to use a machine which had rotating moving parts controlled by a foot pedal. Another apprentice showed him what to do and after watching him approximately four times, he left him to continue unsupervised. His safety glove caught in the rotating parts and although he removed his foot from the pedal his hand was drawn into the machine, causing crush injuries. As a result, he was unable to work for two months.

In court

R Briggs Sheetmetal Fabrication Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching s.2(1) Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 , which states that every employer must ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare of their employees. The company was fined £13,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,682.

Legal reasoning

Regulation 19 Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 states that suitable and sufficient risk assessments must be undertaken for young persons. The HSE noted that there were insufficient risk assessments and supervision for an inexperienced person and the company had also failed to recognise the entanglement hazard.

Training lessons

Comprehensive training and competent supervision are the foundation of safety and when managed well will reduce incidents and enable your business to work efficiently. It can be tempting to cut corners when it comes to training, especially when there can be other business factors that put pressure on your resources. However, if you invest in training which is aimed specifically at your staff and directly linked to not only the activities undertaken but the hazards that are present, you will gain greater rewards than just improved safety performance. These can include increased productivity, engaged workers and possibly less waste of materials, time and resources. Don’t assume that this will come with a hefty price tag; often the training can be conducted in-house at no cost to the business.

Tip. Your risk assessment will help you identify the level of training required, and how often it needs to be conducted. There are three basic levels of training to facilitate competency within your workforce: induction (when an employee starts); on-the-job (how to do the tasks safely and efficiently); and refresher (to avoid complacency).

In this case training was not given priority by the company. The apprentice was still in training and so not qualified to train new employees, particularly as this was a high-risk environment. If you are employing young persons, then extra care and attention should be paid at their commencement of work.

Tip. Taking the time at commencement of employment to train new starters will send a strong message to them about your safety culture and intent to look after them.

Tip. A risk assessment will ascertain the levels of supervision required, especially for an inexperienced worker, and this will mean you can plan your workload more effectively (click here for our risk assessment).