A company has been prosecuted after a worker's hand became trapped while he was cleaning a conveyor belt at a quarry near Bromsgrove.

Wildmoor Quarry Products Limited of Telford, Shropshire pleaded guilty to Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It has been fined £30,000 more than £11,174 in costs.

Redditch Magistrates' Court heard how the injured worker was cleaning a conveyor belt at Wildmoor Quarry in April 2016 when his hand became trapped in the machinery. He suffered a chipped bone in his wrist and a partial degloving injury.

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A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the company had failed to adequately manage the risk of workers being injured when operating machinery. In addition, it was also found that guarding was unsuitable to prevent access by persons to dangerous parts of machinery.

HSE Quarries Inspector Catherine Pickett: "This incident could so easily have been avoided by the company if it had provided adequate training and put in place safe working practices for cleaning and maintaining conveyor belts.

"Duty holders have the responsibility to ensure all dangerous machinery has the appropriate level of guarding to enable safe operation and maintenance, including cleaning operations."

(LM/MH)