Unguarded chain drive claims 2 finger tips

Biffa Waste Services Ltd was fined £21,542 (inc. costs) on 3rd April 2014 after an employee lost the tips of fingers in an unguarded chain drive.

The circumstances were:

• The machine had been fitted with an external chain drive which was unguarded.
• Workers had also received no training or instruction on isolation of the machine when clearing blockages.
• On 2th February 2013, a worker was clearing a blockage when his glove became entangled in the moving drive.
• This severed the tips of 2 fingers

The HSE inspector said:

“The company was fully aware of the requirement for the chains to be guarded and had made arrangements for guards to be added later that week, yet still allowed the machine to be used before that happened. As a result, a man suffered a painful injury that could have been prevented.”