A NORTH Staffordshire mineral company has been fined £8,000 after an employee was left “lucky to be alive” when he was impaled on the spikes of an industrial hopper grill.
Simon Lowe, 30, sustained serious injuries including deep puncture wounds, internal bleeding, a broken pelvis, fractured spine and lacerated tendons in his thumb.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Newcastle-based Dupre Minerals after its investigation found employees had been left to devise their own systems of work and there were inadequate control measures to prevent them from climbing onto the hopper.
Magistrates in Fenton heard that in July last year Mr Lowe climbed onto the grill of the feed hopper and attempted to empty a bag of the mineral vermiculite into it.
The HSE said he fell and impaled himself on the spikes positioned on the hopper’s grid, used to rip open the bags.
Dupre Minerals pleaded guilty to contravening the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. In addition to the fine, it was ordered to pay £5,236 costs.
Mr Lowe was still being treated for his injuries and had not yet returned to work a year later, the HSE said.
HSE inspector Wayne Owen said: “Mr Lowe’s injuries were such that his hospital consultant told him he was lucky to be alive.
“The activities which led to the incident had been ongoing for some time, yet management failed to properly monitor the practices of their workforce and detect these clearly unsafe activities.”
Dupre Minerals had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
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