Wood firm fined after man loses leg in accident

Injuries suffered by a man who lost part of his leg after an accident at work could have been avoided, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said.

Robert Stubbs, 37, was clearing a jammed log on a machine while working for wood manufacturer ETC Sawmills in Ellesmere, Shropshire, in May 2021, when the conveyor started to move unexpectedly and trapped his legs, the HSE said.

The company was fined £160,000 and ordered to pay £7,395.51 costs at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court after it admitted breaking health and safety laws, earlier this month.

The BBC has approached ETC Sawmills for comment.

HSE inspector Keeley Eaves said: "The life-changing injuries sustained by Mr Stubbs could easily have been prevented if the company had acted to identify and manage the risks involved."

She said the firm could have prevented the accident if it had "put a safe system of work in place and ensured that employees were appropriately trained and supervised".

The HSE said Mr Stubbs had climbed on to a stationary conveyor bed and used a metal pole to move a log.

The conveyor started to move unexpectedly, dragging his legs across the moving chains and trapping them against a stop plate, the HSE said.

Mr Stubbs later had to have his right leg amputated below the knee and sustained significant injuries to his left leg.

Investigators found the firm had failed to assess the risks adequately and devise and implement effective measures to prevent access to the dangerous moving parts of the Quad Saw machine, the HSE said.

They found the firm failed to stop movement of the dangerous parts before people entered the danger zones.

ETC Sawmills also failed to provide employees with safe systems of work or suitable and sufficient information, instruction, training and supervision to enable safe operation of the machine, the HSE added.

Following sentencing on Tuesday, the HSE said standards of health and safety had much improved over recent years, but sawmilling remained a high-risk industry with a major injury rate more than two-and-a-half times that of general manufacturing.

The company, which was registered on Companies House at Penarth Road, Cardiff, changed its base to Penrith in Cumbria this year.

Ms Eves said the firm was one of the largest manufacturers of woods for the fencing and pallet industries in England.

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