Company fined over robot-related employment accident

A Birmingham-based firm has been fined after an employee suffered an injury at work.

Dura Automotive Body and Glass Systems UK has been punished with a £30,000 fee and ordered to pay £20,000 costs after a worker was hit by a manufacturing robot.

The incident left the man - Michael Brewer - with a damaged voice box and nearly caused him to suffer paralysis down one side of his body.

Mr Brewer was injured when trying to repair a fully-automated industrial robot after he entered a guarded area to see through to the operating cycle of the machine.

The company, which supplies car parts such as door modules, glass systems and seat mechanisms, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive, whose representative Edward Fryer noted: "Keeping the robot on the automatic cycle in these circumstances could very well have resulted in automatic death."

He added it is a prime example of an organisation failing to address maintenance work risks.

Posted by Patrick White

23/07/2010 17:03