Conveyor belt equipment 'should have guards'

Categories: General Health and Safety |


Conveyor belt equipment 'should have guards' Companies that use conveyor belts on their premises have been urged to ensure such equipment is adequately guarded to prevent accidents to staff, following an incident.

A prepared salads supplier has been fined £10,000 after one of its employees got his arm pulled inside the machinery of a conveyor belt and had to spend 19 days in hospital.

The 29-year-old was cleaning the equipment, which had been installed six months previously, but fractured his forearm and fingers because the machine was missing a guard.

This safety device would have cost £600 to be fitted, the court heard.

Health and Safety Executive inspector Christia Killen commented that it was "a preventable incident that has caused permanent, debilitating injuries".

"If [the company] had operated a more rigorous purchasing policy system for checking and commissioning new equipment, its supplier could have fitted the guards before the machine was put into use.

Food industry workwear could be worn by employees in the sector to prevent similar accidents.
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