PackagingNews
Two directors of a fast-food packaging manufacturer have been ordered to pay more than £5,000 for ignoring formal safety warnings for more than three years.
Anthony Smith and Yvonne Barrett, who were directors of First Packaging, were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failing to install guards on machines used to produce packaging for fast food outlets.
Trafford Magistrates’ Court heard the machines removed paper from the ends of giant rolls used by the newspaper industry. However, the court heard that no guards were provided to prevent workers’ hands being pulled in by the rotating machinery.
The HSE issued First Packaging with an Improvement Notice on 14 January 2008 ordering guards to be installed on the machines and was later given a six month extension on the deadline to comply with the notice.
When the site was revisited in August 2008, the guards had still not been installed. HSE inspectors were told the factory would be closing, so no further action was taken.
In early 2010, the HSE discovered that, instead of closing, First Packaging had actually moved to new premises on the West Industrial Estate in Westhoughton and was still using the same unguarded machines. It issued two Prohibition Notices stopping work immediately and another four Improvement Notices.
Later in 2010, First Packaging stopped trading and Anthony Smith set up a new company called First Packaging North West, also in Bolton. Again, HSE found Mr Smith had still not had guards fitted to the machines and issued another five Improvement Notices in February 2011.
Smith and Barrett both pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by not preventing workers being put at risk at the Westhoughton site, and failing to comply with the Improvement Notice issued at the Wadsworth site.
Smith also admitted failing to ensure the safety of workers at the First Packaging North West site. He was fined £705 and ordered to pay £2,500 in prosecution costs on 9 September 2011. Barrett was fined £360 with costs of £1,500.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Alex Farnhill said: “The two directors deliberately set out to avoid complying with the legal warnings we issued, allowing their employees to continue to operate dangerous machinery.
“The risk of workers’ hands being pulled into unguarded moving machine parts and belt drives is well known in the manufacturing industry. It’s only luck that none of Mr Smith and Mrs Barrett’s employees were injured in this case.
“We had no choice but to prosecute when they continued to deliberately and flagrantly ignore the formal warnings.”
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