A concrete products manufacturer has been fined after a worker's arm was severed after it got caught in a conveyor belt.

Concrete Fabrications Ltd of Cole Road, St Phillips, Bristol, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974. It was fined £100,000 with £7,758 in costs.

Bristol Crown Court heard the injured employee was making adjustments to a misaligned conveyor belt at the company's plant on 18 May 2015.

The worker had to adjust tensioning rods which were located inside the machine's guards, in close proximity to the conveyor belt and rotating tail pulley.

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As he was doing this, the employee noticed a build up of aggregate on the tensioning road and he tried to knock off the material with a hammer. However, the hammer got caught by the rotating machinery, dragging the employee's arms into the machine and severing it between the shoulder and the elbow.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company had inadequate guards on dangerous parts of machinery. An unsafe system of work existed for the machinery's maintenance, as dangerous parts were exposed during maintenance operations. A risk assessment would have identified the risks associated with tracking conveyor belts, and identified appropriate control measures.

HSE inspector Matthew Tyler said: "Company's need to ensure the risks associated with maintenance tasks are adequately assessed, and effectively controlled, through adequate guarding of dangerous parts of machinery, and the existence of clear robust procedures in respect of maintenance and adjustments of machinery, including isolation and lock off requirements. The consequences of not doing this are clear to see here today."

(LM/MH)