Safety Signs News

Warning signs importance highlighted after teenage worker fractures skull

3rd November 2010 | Warning Signs

Posted by Nicole Stevens.

A tyre firm has been fined after one of its workers fractured his skull while performing machine maintenance, highlighting the importance of safety signs.

On Monday (November 1st), Wolverhampton Magistrates heard how the 17-year-old apprentice, working for Wolverhampton-based Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Ltd, struck his head in September last year.

The teenager was repairing a tyre press with two colleagues when the interior of the machine burst, blowing its lid off with great force. Due to this combustion, he was forced to move out of the way very quickly, and struck his head on nearby equipment as he did so.

In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Goodyear Dunlop admitted contravening Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and was handed a fine of £18,250 with £4,807 to pay in costs.

"This incident was entirely preventable had there been a safe system in place to ensure that services to the press had been isolated prior to the start of the maintenance work," HSE inspector Amarjit Kalay said.

The HSE is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety.
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