A Kent businessman has been sentenced after a worker lost his right forearm when it got caught in an unguarded tyre-shredding machine.
Canterbury Crown Court heard that father-of-four Nathan Johnson, 25, of Folkestone, was working for Cartwright Projects Ltd at Unit 1 Shottenden Manor, Westwell, Ashford, Kent, on 27 November 2013 when the incident happened.
He had been putting tyres by hand into the shredder when the machine failed to grip one properly on its metal teeth. Mr Johnson grabbed the remaining half and fed it in. At that point, his right jacket sleeve got entangled on the metal teeth and his fingers and then forearm were dragged into the running shredder.
He lost the forearm up to his elbow and needed extensive hospital treatment, including skin grafts from his left leg to replace the remains of his arm and a bolt in his elbow to ensure it remained intact.
HSE’s investigation identified that the now-dissolved company's sole director, Mark Arabaje, had removed the metal bucket guard of the shredding machine earlier the same month, thus allowing easy access to the metal teeth.
Mark Arabaje, of Gatefield Cottages, Rolvenden, Cranbrook, Kent, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. On 17 July, he was sentenced to a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. He must observe a home curfew between the hours of 8pm and 6am and wear an electronic tag. The judge imposed a £5,000 compensation order that Arabaje must pay Mr Johnson.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Guy Widdowson, commented: “Company directors need to take their health and safety responsibilities seriously to prevent such tragic events occurring in the future. They have a significant role to play in protecting workers from injury at work; and this case demonstrates that such incidents can and do lead to directors being prosecuted if there is evidence of their consent, connivance or neglect to breaches in the law.”
