Cyber Poems

Machinery can be dangerous if not handled properly. Around three years back, Balwinder Singh Aulkh, an employee of Veetee Rice Ltd, died after getting trapped in one of the machines at the company’s work site. The employee died as his leg was caught in a rice silo, a machine used to separate rice from silo.

It was found that the company had not taken enough measures to prevent employees from accessing machinery parts that were dangerous. There was no mechanism in place to stop employees from getting close to dangerous machinery when its parts were moving.

As a result, HSE prosecuted the company for failure to observe health and safety regulations. The hearing took place in Maidstone Crown Court where the company accepted its liability for the violation of Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The court imposed a fine of £140,000 and costs of £20,500 on the company.

HSE has taken the incident quite seriously. Mike Walters, HSE Principal Inspector in Kent, commented that a simple padlock could have barred the employees from accessing the dangerous machine while it was still running. The precautions were neither difficult nor expensive. An expense of below £15 could have saved the worker’s life.

Walters also said that exposing employees to such high levels of risk is not acceptable. He added that it is quite obvious from this case that even small measures can prevent loss of life. He hopes that the heavy fine imposed on the company will inspire other companies to take preventive measures to protect health and safety of their employees.

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