Lessons should have been learned from the first incident – Jas Bowman and Sons Ltd prosecuted

A global ingredients company has been fined for safety failings after two workers were seriously injured in separate incidents a year apart at its UK manufacturing base near Hitchin. Jas Bowman and Sons Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for not doing enough to protect people working at height at Ickleford Mill in Ickleford. In the first incident, on 7 July 2009, a maintenance engineer fell more than two metres while attempting to clean flour product from inside an elevated conveyor. He stood on the frame of a nearby machine to remove upper guarding on the conveyor but slipped, fracturing his right shoulder blade and a vertebra in his spine when he hit the floor below. A year later, on 15 July 2010, an electrical sub contractor fell down a lift shaft while carrying out maintenance work on a jammed second floor lift door. A panel reading indicated the lift was at second floor level. He manually opened the door by overriding a release mechanism and stepped in but fell into the shaft because the lift car had returned to the ground floor. He was following instructions from two Bowman employees at the time and fractured his skull, developed a cranial blood clot, severed his right ear, which was almost completely detached from his head, and sustained extensive bruising as a result of the fall. He was off work for 18 months as a result of his injuries. Stevenage Magistrates’ Court heard today (27 November) that a HSE investigation into both incidents identified serious failings with the work not being properly planned, supervised or carried out in a safe manner. After the hearing, HSE Inspector Graham Tompkins commented: “These were both serious incidents in their own right, but coupled together they provide a worrying picture. Lessons should have been learned from the first incident, however, the safety of workers continued to be compromised. http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2012/rnn-e-105.htm?eban=rss-