Health and Safety Executive of Northern Ireland fines Balcas Timber Ltd in Ballinamallard, Co Fermanagh after employee loses foot
A sawmill company has been fined £87,000 after an employee had his foot amputated caused by overriding safety controls in defective equipment.
The man was working on moveable track at the entrance to a timber treatment chamber at Balcas Timber Ltd in Ballinamallard, Co Fermanagh on 29 October 2023, when the accident happened.
He was freed by firefighters and flown by air ambulance to hospital, where his right foot was amputated due to the extent of the injury.
The company had pleaded guilty to two health and safety offences.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive of Northern Ireland (HSENI) found that limit switches on the plant were not maintained in a safe state and defects regularly arose which prevented the safe running of the equipment.
At the time of the incident, the employee was attempting to reset various limit switches associated with the track, after the process stalled during the timber treatment sequence.
Employees regularly bypassed safety features by using a large metal pin to hold down levers on the control panel.
This meant that the machine remained in “LIVE” mode when operators went to physically reset the limit switches.
This resulted in the moveable track being able to travel while employees were close to it.
Prosecutors in the PPS’s Fraud & Departmental Section worked closely with HSENI to build a robust prosecution case.
Speaking after the hearing at Dungannon Crown Court on Thursday, Major Investigation Team Inspector, Kevin Campbell, said: “This incident could easily have been avoided. The employee suffered serious lifestyle changing injuries, but the outcome really could have been much worse.
“All employers must ensure that effective, planned, preventative maintenance procedures are in place for work equipment and that these are complemented by pre-start checks carried out by competent personnel."
“All defective equipment and plant should not be used until it is either properly repaired or replaced, by competent personnel. Safety control devices, such as hold-to-run controls, must not be overridden or defeated, as this can result in unintended movements of the plant while an operator is in its travel path.
Employers must ensure, in the event of breakdowns, that they have safe isolation procedures which are communicated to employees, he added.
Commenting on behalf of Balcas, Johnathan Pollock, Chief Operations Officer, said: “First and foremost, we reiterate our sincere regret that a member of our team was seriously injured.
"Our thoughts remain with our colleague and their family.
“Balcas has fully cooperated with the investigation and accepts the judgment and ruling of the court in this matter. The safety and wellbeing of our colleagues remains our highest priority.
"We take health and safety extremely seriously and we are continuously reviewing and improving our safety systems and business practices.
“We have worked alongside the Health & Safety Executive NI (HSENI) throughout this process and have undertaken a comprehensive internal review of our safety procedures, strengthening systems across the business to reduce the risk of any similar incident occurring in the future."