A wood manufacturing firm has been fined more than £1 million after two of its workers suffered “very serious injuries” in separate incidents.
West Fraser (Europe) Ltd, formerly known as Norbord, is a multi-national manufacturer of wood-based products. They appeared at Stirling Sheriff Court in February to plead guilty to breaching health and safety law in relation to the incidents, which both took place at their manufacturing plant in Cowie in 2020.
The first incident occurred in January 2020, when utility operator Sean Gallagher, 29, suffered serious injuries after his leg become entangled in the moving parts at the bottom of a storage bunker.
Mr Gallagher had worked for the firm for five years and spent the last two of those working at its biomass plant. On 20th January 2020 he had entered a bunker at the plant to carry out an inspection on a suspected fault. He did so in accordance with the company’s safe system of work procedure.
However, later that shift, he entered the bunker again without turning off the power. This led to him becoming entangled in the machinery. He had to use his own phone to alert a control room operator. After being extracted from the machine, he was taken to hospital, where he was treated for compound fractures to the tibia and fibula of his right leg.
The company responded to the incident by installing a mesh guard across the bunker hatch, which is padlocked shut and can only be unlocked by the supervisor once the system has been isolated.
Second worker suffered multiple serious injuries
Just six months later, scaffolder Daivd McMillian, 39, fell more than 13ft to the ground after a rusty plate on a rooftop gantry he was working on at the same site gave way.
Mr McMillan suffered multiple fractures to his body, including his neck and ankle. He had to remain in hospital for 20 days.
A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that there was no maintenance schedule or system of safety checks in place for the gantry structure. The steel flooring to the gantry had corroded in places, and some of the welds holding the plates in place were found to be at the point of failure.
The gantry was placed out of bounds immediately after in the incident, before being dismantled and removed from the site.
Firm’s “repeated failures” have resulted in serious injuries and death
West Fraser (Europe) Ltd had already been fined more than £2 million in 2022 after another employee had suffered fatal burns at the same plant.
In relation to the January 2020 incident involving Mr Gallagher, they pleaded guilty to breaching the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998 and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They were fined £28,000.
In relation to the second incident involving Mr McMillan, they pleaded guilty to further breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
For this incident, they were fined the much more significant sum of £1,040,000.
Commenting on the case, HSE Inspector Stuart Easson, highlighted the fact that it was “the second time in five years this company has been handed a large fine for failing to protect workers.”
He added:
“Although both men sustained very serious injuries in these latest incidents, both are lucky to be alive.
“We hope this outcome demonstrates that repeated failures of this nature are not acceptable.”
Training is vital for worker safety
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