A company has been fined £60,000 after one of their employees was injured while working on an unguarded machine. Kelly Neild had to spend three months in hospital and now lives with permanent disabilities as a result of safety failings of her employer. The incident which occurred at Mainetti UK took place in 2009 and the firm was sentenced on January 17 2013.

As Ms Neild leant forward to pick up some coat hangers her scarf was trapped in the machine. As it was caught in the cogs of the conveyor belt her hair also became trapped. She tried to free her hair and almost lost her fingers in the process. Ms Neild suffered serious injuries to her throat and neck and was scalped by the machine. The accident could have been avoided if the company worked on their health and safety standards.

Mainetti UK didn’t provide satisfactory instructions on how to work safely. The machine wasn’t fitted with an emergency stop button and guards weren’t in place to stop access to the moving parts of the machine.  The accident took place on Ms Neild’s first day on the production line.

Get the Training You Need to Prevent Accidents at Work

Training managers and employees is one of the ways accidents can be avoided. The NEBOSH General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety can provide excellent training on how to manage health and safety. Managers can learn all about the legal framework and discover how to work within the law and implement good standards of health and safety within an organisation.

One of the ways that safety failings can be discovered is through auditing, reviewing, monitoring and safe systems of work. These are just some of the topics that are covered on the NEBOSH course. Other topics include learning about creating strategies to reduce and control risks, fire hazards, ill health and the processes that are undertaken when investigating and reporting accidents or incidents in the workplace.

The NEBOSH course is a great option in order to become qualified and learn vital skills necessary to manage health and safety. If you would like to sign up for the training you can do so by speaking to one of our team on 0800 567 7650 or using our online form.