A manufacturer has been fined £293,000 after an employee was killed by a plastic part which hit him at 81mph in speed.
Features
Nylacast fined £293k after flying part kills worker
By
on 01 February 2019
A 52-year-old employee of Nylacast Limited had been removing a cast plastic rod from a casting machine. The rod was secured by a pressurised piston, which should have been depressurised before the rod was removed.
As the employee went to remove the part, the metal retaining end cap and rod were forcibly ejected, with the rod hitting him in the chest. He died the next day in a hospital from a heart attack due to his injuries, according to the Leicestershire Live website which reported on the case at court. The worker had suffered a “blunt force impact” from the flying part, which cracked his breast bone and jaw.
HSE found the company failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of the long length rod machine in order to ensure that all foreseeable hazards had been identified.
Nylacast Limited of Thurmaston Boulevard, Leicester, was fined for breaching regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and Regulation 12 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
The company was fined with costs of £10,205.61 at Leicester Magistrates’ Court in December 2018.
Investigating HSE inspector Alex Nayar said “Those in control of work equipment have a responsibility to undertake a suitably robust assessment in order to ensure that all foreseeable hazards have been identified.
“Had this hazard been identified, suitable engineering controls could have been devised and implemented to minimise the risk, therefore this death could have been prevented.”
FEATURES
Machinery at work: why it’s vital to only select plant that offers suitable ingress protection
By Darren Hugheston-Roberts, TÜV SÜD on 10 March 2025
Machinery can deteriorate, malfunction or become unsafe when water or dust enters or if operators wrongly insert tools into the enclosure. It’s therefore vital to purchase plant that has been independently assessed to ensure it is robust enough to cope with the environment and the ways in which it will be used.
HSE inspections target hearing protection and noise control failures
By Peter Wilson, INVC on 07 March 2025
The Health and Safety Executive is currently conducting an inspection programme looking at the adequacy of employers’ noise control measures, while changes to how compensation claims for noise-induced hearing loss are assessed are predicted to result in higher payouts for affected workers. As a result, it is crucial employers review their noise risk reduction approach to ensure it reflects current best practice.
The Health & Safety Event returns to the NEC Birmingham
By Safety Management on 05 March 2025
The free-to-attend Health & Safety Event returns to the NEC in Birmingham on 8–10 April 2025, providing a superb opportunity for occupational health and safety (OSH) practitioners to access the latest products and solutions and expand their knowledge and expertise.