08/08/2008
Worker Freed From Machine At Plastics Firm
A worker has been treated for severe injuries after getting his leg caught in a machine for an hour.
The 30-year-old was freed at 5.50am and taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for treatment to his leg.
Firefighters were called to the incident at DS Smith Packaging's plant, at the Houston industrial estate, Livingston.
The Health and Safety Executive is investigating the incident and said an inspector was due to examine the site.
This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. In 2006, the company was fined £75,000 after an employee in Lincolnshire was fatally crushed in a machine.
Colin Blades, 34, of Louth, was dragged into a machine after he reached inside a press to free a blockage - inadvertently starting it up again, in August 2004.
Lincoln Crown Court heard that a preventative measure - a metal plate - would have cost DS Smith Packaging less than £100.
The firm admitted breaching Health and Safety at Work by "failing to ensure the worker's safety".
Prosecuting, David Travers, said the danger - caused by the fitting of a smaller conveyor belt - should have been "clear and foreseeable to the firm".
The firm has since taken measures to ensure nothing similar happens again.
A spokesman from the company, in a statement, said: "Our immediate concern is for the welfare of the employee and the company wishes to state that it takes the safety of its employees very seriously.
"At this stage, the incident is still being investigated and we cannot comment further until that investigation has been completed. Further details will be released as soon as more information becomes available."
(DS/JM)
The 30-year-old was freed at 5.50am and taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for treatment to his leg.
Firefighters were called to the incident at DS Smith Packaging's plant, at the Houston industrial estate, Livingston.
The Health and Safety Executive is investigating the incident and said an inspector was due to examine the site.
This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. In 2006, the company was fined £75,000 after an employee in Lincolnshire was fatally crushed in a machine.
Colin Blades, 34, of Louth, was dragged into a machine after he reached inside a press to free a blockage - inadvertently starting it up again, in August 2004.
Lincoln Crown Court heard that a preventative measure - a metal plate - would have cost DS Smith Packaging less than £100.
The firm admitted breaching Health and Safety at Work by "failing to ensure the worker's safety".
Prosecuting, David Travers, said the danger - caused by the fitting of a smaller conveyor belt - should have been "clear and foreseeable to the firm".
The firm has since taken measures to ensure nothing similar happens again.
A spokesman from the company, in a statement, said: "Our immediate concern is for the welfare of the employee and the company wishes to state that it takes the safety of its employees very seriously.
"At this stage, the incident is still being investigated and we cannot comment further until that investigation has been completed. Further details will be released as soon as more information becomes available."
(DS/JM)
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