Firm fined £200,000 as man '˜entangled in machinery' in Portsmouth

INTERNATIONAL glass firm Saint-Gobain has been fined £200,000 after a worker was entangled in a lathe.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Jul 2016, 14:31 BST
Updated 20th Jul 2016, 15:33 BST
A worker got entangled in the lathe at Limberline Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth, leading to Saint Gobain being fined £200,000 at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court. Picture: Health and Safety ExecutiveA worker got entangled in the lathe at Limberline Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth, leading to Saint Gobain being fined £200,000 at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court. Picture: Health and Safety Executive
A worker got entangled in the lathe at Limberline Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth, leading to Saint Gobain being fined £200,000 at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court. Picture: Health and Safety Executive

Stephen Collier was working on a metal-working lathe at Glassolutions in Limberline Road, Hilsea, when his clothing was caught on a roller and he was injured.

He was entangled in the machine, causing a dislocated finger, damage to his wrist and soft tissue, nerve and ligament damage.

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Health and Safety Executive investigators found no guard was in place preventing access to moving parts.

A worker got entangled in the lathe at Limberline Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth, leading to Saint Gobain being fined £200,000 at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court. Picture: Health and Safety ExecutiveA worker got entangled in the lathe at Limberline Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth, leading to Saint Gobain being fined £200,000 at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court. Picture: Health and Safety Executive
A worker got entangled in the lathe at Limberline Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth, leading to Saint Gobain being fined £200,000 at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court. Picture: Health and Safety Executive

The agency prosecuted Saint-Gobain Glass UK Ltd and the firm pleaded guilty to section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court heard how the firm had allowed a metal working lathe to be adapted in order to re-rope conveyor rollers in-house. Mr Collier was re-roping the rollers when the incident happened.

A HSE spokeswoman said: ‘An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive into the incident which occurred on April 27, 2015, found that there was no suitable and sufficient risk assessment which could have prevented this incident from happening.’

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District judge Anne Arnold fined the firm, based at Binley Business Park, Harry Western Road, Coventry, £200,000.

A worker got entangled in the lathe at Limberline Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth, leading to Saint Gobain being fined £200,000 at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court. Picture: Health and Safety ExecutiveA worker got entangled in the lathe at Limberline Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth, leading to Saint Gobain being fined £200,000 at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court. Picture: Health and Safety Executive
A worker got entangled in the lathe at Limberline Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth, leading to Saint Gobain being fined £200,000 at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court. Picture: Health and Safety Executive

The judge ordered the firm pay £3,137.70 in costs and a £120 victim surcharge.

A spokeswoman for Glassolutions, which is owned by Saint-Gobain, said: ‘Glassolutions accepts the decision of the court and we take full responsibility for falling short, on this occasion, in our duty of care for our colleague.

‘We have already taken measures to ensure that this type of regrettable incident does not happen again.

‘While we had a comprehensive health and safety management system in place at the time of the incident, there were clearly failures in applying those requirements fully at this site at the time.’