North West company fined after failing to ensure safe use of machinery


Added on: 26/02/2019

A Bolton-based company that manufactures vehicle components has today been fined after a worker was injured whilst using a lathe.

Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 8June 2017, a 59-year-old worker at Jost (UK) Limited was applying emery cloth by hand to a lathe to smooth down the shaft of a boring bar at their site on Nelson Street, Bolton. The worker’s arm then was pulled into the machine, sustaining serious arm injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Jost (UK) Limited had not provided instructions to employees that prohibited application of emery cloth by hand to metalworking lathes. The company had also failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, and there was no safe system of work in place.

Jost (UK) Limited of Nelson Street, Bolton, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £134,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,572.

HSE inspector Caroline Shorrock said after the hearing: “This injury could have been easily prevented by identifying and implementing safe working practices when using this machine.”