Border Stone Quarries fined after worker loses two fingers in drill incident
Robert Thomas Charlton (trading as Border Stone Quarries) of Haltwhistle, Northumberland, has been fined £7,200 and ordered to pay costs of £27,000 after an employee lost two fingers in a drilling incident.
The employee was directing the drilling operation while a colleague operated the controls in an excavator, Peterlee Magistrates heard when the case was brought before them this month (December). A glove being worn by the employee directing the operation became entangled on the rotating drill.
The only control in place was a single trip wire fitted to one side of the drill mast. As the employee was being twisted against the opposite side of the mast to the trip wire, he was unable to activate it. It was a number of seconds before the excavator operator became aware of the problem and stopped the drill.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, which occurred on 16 January this year at Lingberry Quarry near Staindrop, Durham, found that the preventative measures taken by the company to control the risks were not suitable.
Robert Thomas Charlton (trading as Border Stone Quarries) pleaded guilty to a charge under Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment 1998 for failing to prevent access to dangerous parts of equipment.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Specialist Quarries Inspector Mike Tetley said: “This is an accident that could have been easily prevented. The expected guarding standard for this type of machine working in this environment would be an interlocked guard as access to the drill was frequently required.
"There are established legal requirements relating to machinery guarding and these are complemented by HSE and industry specific guidance. Entanglement in the rotating parts of drilling rigs has caused fatalities and serious injuries including amputations, as in this case. These are known risks and need to be appropriately controlled by companies operating this type of equipment.”