Pages On: Faulty Work Equipment
Whilst fault equipment at work is a rare occurrence, it can often prove extremely dangerous. Equipment doesn’t have to be broken or dysfunctional to prove hazardous, sometimes design oversights to safety controls can be fatal to workers. If something has failed in its proper operation which you use for work, and has caused you injury, you probably stand a good chance of claiming work accident compensation.
Factory worker wins £125,000 injury compensation for crushed arm
Posted: 23 October 2015
Posted in: Arm Injury, Faulty Work Equipment, Workplace Injuries
A 58-year-old factory worker has been awarded a £125,000 work accident compensation package after having his arm crushed by machinery. Robert Faulds, from Falkirk, suffered severe injuries to his right arm after it was pulled into heavy machinery at a bottle-top factory in Bridge of Allan in September 2013. Mr Faulds claimed that after the accident, United Closures and Plastics blamed him and demoted him. It was heard that Mr Faulds had been working on a printing machine at the time of the accident. His right arm was pulled in by…
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Timber firm fined over workplace injury
Posted: 7 September 2015
Posted in: Faulty Work Equipment, Hand Injuries, Workplace Injuries
A timber company has been fined £7,000 after a worker was dragged into machinery by his hand at a Lockerbie sawmill last year. Scott Gordon suffered life-changing injuries as a result of the incident at Steven’s Croft in March 2014, and was told by doctors that he would be permanently scarred. The company responsible, Forest Sawmills Ltd of Kidderminster, admitted to breaching health and safety regulations. It was heard in Dumfries Sheriff Court that the firm had failed to put any protective measures in place to prevent injury from happening…
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Tyre maker fined after worker is trapped and killed in industrial oven
Posted: 3 May 2015
Posted in: Faulty Work Equipment, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
Tyre-making company Pirelli has been fined £150,000 after one of its employees died in an industrial oven. 48-year-old George Falder, from Carlisle, was found dead in the machine, (which reaches temperatures of 150C) by one of his colleagues. The Health and Safety Executive described it as a “tragic death”. Pirelli admitted to health and safety failings that caused the death in the Carlisle Crown Court. The company was forced to pay £46,700 in costs. The HSE brought further criminal proceedings against the company after an investigation found that there was no…
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Killed zookeeper’s family demand answers
Posted: 19 September 2014
Posted in: Faulty Work Equipment, Neck Injuries, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
The family of 24-year-old zookeeper Sarah McClay has demanded that their questions are answered following her death in May last year. The accident happened at the South Lakes Wild Animal Park, near Dulton-in-Furness, whereby Miss McClay was mauled to death by a Sumatran tiger. It was heard during the inquest that the tiger had managed to get through an open door from its enclosure to a corridor in which Miss McClay had been working. Animals and their keepers are supposed to be kept apart by lockable self-closing doors. However, the male…
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Helicopter crash victims remembered a year later
Posted: 25 August 2014
Posted in: Faulty Work Equipment, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
One year after a helicopter crash in Samburgh Airport killed four people, 100 people gathered in Shetland to pay their respects. Last August a Super Puma helicopter crashed while trying to land at Samburgh Airport in Shetland, killing Sarah Darnley, from Elgin, Gary McCrossan, from Inverness, Duncan Munro, from Bishop Auckland, and George Allison, from Winchester. 100 people gathered at the dedication service held at the Samburgh Airport memorial site on Saturday (23 August). Wreaths were placed into the sea and a helicopter flypast also took place to mark the occasion.…
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Animal shelter fined over volunteer saw injury
Posted: 24 April 2014
Posted in: Faulty Work Equipment, Hand Injuries, Workplace Injuries
The largest shelter for horses and donkeys in Scotland has been fined after a volunteer lost part of his hand in a saw accident. Mountain Animal Sanctuary Trust has been fined a total of £6,000 for breaching health and safety regulations. The trust pleaded guilty to the health and safety offence at Forfar Sherrif Court earlier this week. The volunteer had been using a defective circular saw when the accident happened. The court heard that he had been operating a bench saw to cut up pieces of wood from an animal…
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Super Puma that killed sixteen in accident “fell like a torpedo”
Posted: 7 January 2014
Posted in: Employer Negligence, Faulty Work Equipment, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
An accident inquiry has been launched after sixteen men died in a helicopter crash in the North Sea. One eyewitness of the accident said that the Super Puma helicopter “fell like a torpedo” through the sky, with the rotor blades coming down several seconds after the fuselage of the helicopter. The crash occurred in 2009, but many family members are still awaiting answers. The Bond Super Puma came down just off Peterhead, and all fourteen passengers and two crewmembers lost their lives. Immediately after the accident, a rescue boat was launched to…
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Timber company fined over trapped worker
Posted: 27 November 2013
Posted in: Faulty Work Equipment, Hip Injuries, Workplace Injuries
Timber firm, Hunter Wilson Ltd, have been fined £44,000 after one of their workers became trapped in a log haul machine when cleaning. The Gretna-based company admitted to breaching numerous safety regulations and pleaded guilty in March 2011. The injured worker was 28-year-old Steven Cairns who sustained serious injuries in the workplace incident, including a broken pelvis. It was heard at Dumfries Sherrif Court that no other workers actually witnessed the incident, but his screams were heard by workmates, who quickly rushed to his assistance. Mr Cairs was instantly airlifted to a…
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Swinney to make statement regarding Super Puma crash
Posted: 4 September 2013
Posted in: Faulty Work Equipment, Workplace Injuries, Wrongful & Accidental Death
While the reason for last month’s Super Puma crash continues to be investigated, Scotland’s Finance Secretary John Swinney is due to make a statement at Hollyrood. Twelve days after the crash occurred — killing four people off Shetland — Mr. Swinney is expected to offer condolences to the families of those killed in the accident. As well as praise those who helped during the search and rescue operation. He said that ministers would co-operate with an industry inquiry, but that a decision is not ready to be taken concerning a wider…
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Worker injured in unguarded machine
Posted: 12 February 2013
Posted in: Faulty Work Equipment, Finger Injuries, Workplace Injuries
A Kilmarnock firm that makes engine parts has been fined after a worker was injured when his hand got trapped in unguarded machinery. Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard that the agency worker was a trainee operator working on the rolling mills when the incident happened. He was attempting to free a strip of metal from the rolling mill when his gloved right hand became caught on an in-running nip and was trapped between two powered rollers. His hand was released when a colleague dismantled the top of the unit. The injured…
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