After one of its employees suffered a personal injury at work from his impalement upon two steel bars, a Welsh manufacturing firm has been fined by the Health and Safety Executive, according to personal injury solicitors familiar with the incident.
Pontypridd native Steven Rowe, forty nine years of age, had been employed at the Clydach Vale factory of Allevard Springs Ltd when the incident occurred. According to his personal injury claims, Mr Rowe had been attempting to adjust a bar drawing line machine when two steel rods impaled his arm.
According to the HSE’s prosecution in Pontypridd Magistrates’ Court, the machine in question, which is used during the process in which springs are formed from steel bars, had developed a fault. As the injured factory worker began his attempts to resolve the issue through air pressure regulator adjustments, two nearly two metre long lengths of steel shot from the machine, piercing his right forearm.
As a result of the work accident, Mr Rowe’s right arm was broken and needing fourteen stitches. The injured man continues to receive treatment for his injuries at his local hospital on an outpatient basis.
During the investigation by the HSE, it was discovered that there had not been adequate guarding fitted to the machine. Moreover, employees of the manufacturing firm were able to access the piece of machinery even when it was in motion, which was inherently unsafe.
As a result of the HSE’s investigation and prosecution, the Tonypandy, Rhondda Cnon Taf company admitted to being in breach of health and safety violations. Allevard Springs Ltd was subsequently given a fine of £10,000 for the role the company played in Mr Rowe’s injuries.