Corus fined
Corus UK Limited, trading as Corus Special Profiles based at 30 Millbank, London, has been fined £5,000 plus £5,074 costs at Teesside Magistrates’ Court.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching S.2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974 and r.3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The prosecution related to an industrial accident on 24th May 2008 at the Corus Skinningrove plant.
An employee, working on the mill floor where steel is rolled into long sections, was attempting to clear a jam in a machine, which requires an operator activating controls above the mill floor. The operator was unable to see the employee, so instructions were relayed via a 3rd man using a combination of hand signals and shouting, but he was struck by moving machinery, sustaining a leg injury.
Investigation established that relaying instructions in this way was common practice as radios were not always available and background noise made them difficult to use. There was no record of a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for clearing jams and no recorded safe system of work in place.
Corus had implemented safe operating procedures to deal with some of the risks, but had no safe isolation system, which had been identified as a requirement prior to the incident. 2nd March 2010.
