Staffordshire casting company fined after accident at work

20/01/2012

A Staffordshire-based aluminium casting firm has been fined GBP 6,000 and ordered to pay GBP 4,000 costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The company was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an employee was burned by molten metal at its Worcester plant in an accident at work in July 2010.

Worcester Magistrates' Court heard that Asim Qureshi, was operating a die cast machine at JVM Castings Ltd's premises when molten metal sprayed from the back of the machine.

The 650 degrees C molten material burned through Mr Qureshi's clothing after landing on him, causing serious burns to his right arm, shoulder, leg and face.

He was unable to work for two months and has been left with permanent scarring on his hand and leg.

HSE investigators found that the rear of the machine had been unguarded and that the operators' overalls and eye protection were unsuitable for the amount of molten metal spray.

The court heard there had been three previous incidents of molten aluminium blow backs at the Worcester plant, one of which caused serious injuries to another employee seven months before the incident involving Mr Qureshi.

HSE inspector Tariq Khan said: "Despite three previous incidents, one of which caused serious injuries to another worker, JVM Castings failed to learn from them and did not follow the recommendations of its own investigation."

He explained that aluminium blow backs are unpredictable events, but they always pose a high risk to employees due to the wide area the molten metal can be thrown over.

"The company's risk assessment had identified blow backs as a danger but did not include any measures to remove or reduce the risk," Mr Khan added.

Posted by Verity Taylor

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