Major wood firm fined £160,000 after Shropshire sawmill worker lost leg in horror accident at work
A large wood manufacturer has been fined £160,000 more than four years after an employee suffered life-changing injuries while working at its premises in Ellesmere.
Robert Stubbs, now 37, sustained life-changing injuries when clearing a jammed log on a machine at E.T.C. Sawmills in Ellesmere in May 2021.
Mr Stubbs climbed onto 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 father of three, who at the time feared he would not survive the incident, subsequently had his right leg amputated below the knee and sustained significant injuries to his left leg.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that E.T.C. Sawmills Limited failed to adequately assess the risks and devise and implement effective measures to prevent access to the dangerous moving parts of the quad saw machine or to stop the movement of the dangerous parts before people entered the danger zones.
Additionally, the company 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.
Cardiff-based E.T.C. Sawmills Limited pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £160,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,395.51 at Kidderminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday, December 9.
HSE Inspector Keeley Eves said: “E.T.C Sawmills is one of the largest manufacturers of softwoods for the fencing and pallet industries in England.
“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, put a safe system of work in place and ensured that employees were appropriately trained and supervised.”
