A grain firm has been fined £50,000 for safety failings that resulted in a worker losing his arm in a horrific accident.
Bosses from W N Lindsay, based at Keith, appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court for yesterday’s ruling, which followed a lengthy investigation by government health and safety officials.
Banff man John Thomson, 57, was working as a foreman at the company’s Fife Park site in October 2012 when his right arm became entangled in machinery.
He was so badly trapped that the limb had to be amputated at the scene.
The court heard Mr Thomson had decided to check a conveyor for a blockage after staff became concerned about noises coming from the equipment.
As he was examining it, a co-worker mistakenly turned on the machine’s isolation switch instead of turning off a different mechanism.
Mr Thomson’s hand was mangled by the machinery and after all efforts to free him failed, his right arm had to be amputated up to the elbow in order to release him.
Commenting on the verdict last night, he said he hoped lessons had been learned and thanked everyone who had helped with his recovery.
“If the fine prevents any more accidents then that is the main thing,” Mr Thomson said.
“The last 27 months have been very hard and painful both for me and my family.
“If it hadn’t been for the medical staff who helped me I would not be here today.”
W N Lindsay’s solicitor Mark Donaldson told the court the company had been complacent about the potential for accidents and was deeply sorry about what happened to Mr Thomson.
“The firm accepts that management became overly reliant on experienced employees and as a result, instruction given to workers at Keith was neither significantly detailed or appropriately enforced,” he said.
“This led to complacency developing in relation to risks arising.
“The company deeply regrets that injury was caused to a highly valued employee.”
The health and safety report revealed that the operation of isolation switches had been highlighted as a potential hazard during an inspection earlier in 2012.
Fiscal depute Geoff Main said insufficient training had been given to employees using machinery.
The investigation found inadequate supervision by the company had led to employees developing their own methods for isolating equipment, which were fundamentally unsafe.
Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood judged the firm to be in breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, before deciding on the £50,000 penalty.
He said: “In assessing a level of fine I’m not carrying out any sort of exercise that puts a value on the horrific injury Mr Thomson suffered.”
After the accident Mr Thomson was airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where he remained for three weeks.
Plastic surgeons took skin grafts and muscle from his back to help rebuild the remaining part of his arm.
Mr Thomson was unable to return to work for 11 months following the injury.
He has since left the company for unrelated reasons.
Speaking after the accident, he said he bore no grudge against his former employers and was grateful to W N Lindsay’s managing director, Andrew Stephen, who had supported him since the incident.
He still has physiotherapy one day a week and continues to take pain medication.
Last night, the Health and Safety Executive’s Principal Inspector, Niall Miller, said the accident was “entirely foreseeable.”
He said: “W N Lindsay’s failure to act to make sure its employees were adequately trained and supervised has led to Mr Thomson losing his arm and having to completely change his working and social life.”
W N Lindsay Ltd, of Gladsmuir, East Lothian, admitted breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Managers declined to comment on the fine when approached yesterday.
