Accidents at Work Involving Machinery

• Posted onJuly 6, 2021

Have you been asked to use equipment at work that is faulty nor not appropriate for the task you have been asked to do or is not safe to use?

This happens more often than you would think and could lead to an accident or an injury being sustained. Employers are under a duty of care to create a safe working environment for their employees which includes the equipment they have been asked to use. WSP Solicitors can help if you are looking to pursue a Personal Injury Claim from an accident at work.

Machinery Accidents at Work

In the manufacturing industry alone there were 11,245 non-fatal injuries to employees reported by employers to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 2019/20.  77% of those injuries lasted more than 7 days. 

Hair, fingers, shoes and clothing can get caught in machines if precautions to ensure safety are not taken when considering PPE and the machines to be used.

The use of large machines and equipment in factories or in the agricultural industry can cause serious injuries with employees getting their hair, fingers, shoes and clothing caught in machines.

Key areas that can cause issues are:

• Moving parts, pull-in, wrap or pinch points.
• Machines that drill or saw, lathes, grinders, or crop harvesters, machines with pulleys, spinning pieces or gears.
• Pinch points, which are in various machine parts including pulleys, gears, machines’

Examples of Machinery Injury Claims

An employee tried to remove paper trapped and stuck in a labelling machine and ended up injuring their hand.

A machinist using a cutting machine which had no guard around the blade found his hand was pulled in and seriously injured.

An worker attempting to drill a hole in an awkward shaped piece of wood found there gloved hand pulled into and around the drill bit causing life altering injury.

Employers Responsibility for Health and Safety at Work

Employers have a duty to provide a safe working environment to their employees.  This includes:

• The provision of safety equipment ensuring the lighting and space to work in is sufficient.
• Equipment is inspected and maintained regularly and meets the relevant health and safety requirements.
• Suitable and sufficient risk assessments are carried out.
• Potential hazards need to not only be identified but an attempt to eliminate the risk should be made.
• If elimination of a risk is not possible, employers need to carefully consider adapting the processes and procedures to reduce the risks to the lowest possible level.
• Ensuring staff are fully trained and made aware of any risks is important.
• Use of protective clothing is enforced where necessary.

If you consider you have been the victim of work related incident causing injury which could have been avoided as your employer failed to take adequate care for your safety by not having the appropriate safety measures in place or to provide the right safety gear please get in touch with WSP Solicitors Personal Injury Claims Team, as you may be able to claim compensation for your injuries. You can contact us here or by using the form on this page. Alternatively you can call us on 01453 847200.