Accident at work news
21/07/2011

Horrific work accident at glass factory

A glass manufacturing company in Bedfordshire has been fined after an employee suffered serious injuries in a work accident.

The 37-year-old man had been working in the glass toughening section at the factory, in Woodside Industrial Estate, when a large pane of glass he was carrying unexpectedly shattered in his hands.

The incident, which took place in October 2009, caused the man to suffer severe personal injuries when a broken shard of glass sliced its way through the muscle, artery and nerves of his right forearm. The worker was taken to hospital where he received 250 stitches and for three months was forced to wear a plaster cast.

The man has still not regained full feeling in his right forearm and has lost some movement in his wrist. He has since lost his job at the factory and is currently still undergoing physiotherapy.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation discovered that the safety protection equipment supplied to employees at the factory was inadequate and that a similar work accident had taken place previously in 2008 at the factory but had not been reported.

Following an HSE prosecution at Luton Magistrates' Court, the company admitted to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and were fined £11,200 and ordered to pay a total of £3,977.40 in court costs.

Speaking after the hearing, an HSE inspector stated, "Had [the victim] been provided with full arm protection he would have avoided serious injury."

It has not been reported whether the personal injury victim will be pursuing a work accident compensation claim through the civil courts.