On 28 January 2011 Steven Rowe was one of two shift operators working on a bar drawing line machine at the Clydach Vale premises of Allevard Springs Limited.
During his shift Mr Rowe noticed bars being extruded from the straightening machine, used to prepare steel bar lengths for processing in to springs, were not hitting a sensor, so causing problems with the alignment of the bars on the next part of the machine.
To prevent the bars jamming, Mr Rowe went through a sliding door and in to the machine’s enclosure. Once there, he would be able to adjust an air pressure regulator in order to correct the stop position of the bars against the sensor.
As he was doing so two steel bars, each 10.5mm in diameter and approximately two metres in length, shot out of the machine, piercing his right forearm.
Using his left arm, Mr Rowe then managed to deflect a number of other bars before his colleague was able to shut the machine down.
His right arm broken, Mr Rowe was taken to hospital, where he also needed 14 stitches to his left arm. A year later, he is still receiving outpatient treatment.
An HSE investigation revealed Allevard Springs had failed to ensure the exposure of a person to the risk of steel bars being ejected was adequately controlled, and that no measures were in place to prevent access to the machine while it was running.
Allevard Springs Limited, of Clydach Vale, Tonypandy, Rhondda Cynon Taf, pleaded guilty at Pontypridd Magistrates’ Court to contravening Regulation 12(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,786.60.
