December
2009
Employee of International Paper (UK) Limited Loses Arm in Accident, Company Fined
An employee of International Paper (UK) Limited of Inverurie lost his left arm while working in the company’s mill in January 2009. The employee was re-feeding paper inside a machine and his hand got dragged inside the machine as paper enveloped his arm. HSE believes that this kind of accident should not have happened in this era when the security levels are higher. HSE has in fact termed the accident as a Dickensian-style event.
John Radcliffe, HSE Inspector, who was assigned the investigation of the case, said that many enactments are in place these days to protect workers from such incidents and thus the accident should not have happened. He added that the company had not done enough to protect the workers from such accidents while operating the machine, in spite of the fact that every company is well aware of the safety norms it is required to follow.
Radcliffe added further that the victim is actually lucky to be alive, and that his whole body would have been dragged inside had one of his colleagues not acted on time to pull him out.
International Paper (UK) Limited did not defend itself but accepted the liability for the infringement of Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 before
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