Firm fined after man injured by drive shaft

Tag: PTO Drive Shaft

A WORKMAN at a North-East quarry was badly injured after his clothing became caught in an unguarded tractor drive shaft, a court was told yesterday.

David Luke - who suffered burst lungs and three cracked ribs in the accident - had been ordered by his supervisor to use the machinery after its damaged guard had been removed.

Martin Baillie, prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive, told Bishop Auckland magistrates that Mr Luke's injuries could have proved fatal had his clothes PTO Drive Shaft not been ripped from his body by the spinning pto shaft.

W&M Thompson, which operates the quarry in Bishop Middleham, near Ferryhill, County Durham, was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £1,756 costs after it admitted failing to ensure the equipment was in good working order.

Supervisor Alan Armstrong, of Ashbourne Drive, Coxhoe, County Durham, was fined £1,200 and ordered to pay £500 costs after he admitted failing to discharge his duty of care.

Mr Baillie told magistrates that in May last year, Armstrong had ordered Mr Luke to pull a lever near the pto shaft, which was powering a water pump. As he leaned across, his clothing became caught up.

He said the supervisor knew the machinery posed a serious risk and that it would have taken only 40 minutes to fit a safety guard.

"Every year people are killed and seriously injured in accidents like this," said Mr Baillie.

"Mr Armstrong has, at best, behaved recklessly and his behaviour has resulted in David Luke sustaining a major injury."

He said that singling out an individual was unusual in health and safety prosecutions, but Armstrong's negligence justified a separate charge.

"Mr Armstrong has deliberately and recklessly breached the law. What makes matters worse is a replacement guard could have been brought to the site within 40 minutes and Mr Armstrong was aware of that."

The Health and Safety Executive also said that W&M Thompson failed to carry out vital daily safety checks.

Mr Baillie said: "It is reasonable to expect that had the damage to the guarding not been identified earlier, the problem would have been rectified prior to this incident."

Geoffrey Thompson, chairman of W&M Thompson, who appeared in court on behalf of the company, said: "We are deeply repentant of the accident."