The Policy at TTE is clear ! The use of Emery is strictly prohibited on rotating machinery. Here are some reasons why we adopt this policy.
CASE STUDY 1:
A businessman has been jailed for eight months following the death of a boy who became trapped in a factory lathe while on a government-funded apprenticeship.
Cameron Minshull, 16, was dragged into the steel cutting machine after his overalls became caught in a “horrific” accident, Manchester Crown Court heard. The apprentice, who earned £3 an hour, was employed by Zaffar Hussain, 59, at Huntley Mount Engineering Limited. The Bury company admitted corporate manslaughter and was fined £150,000. The teenager, whose apprenticeship was funded by the government’s Skills Training Agency, was placed at the firm by recruitment agency Lime People Training Solutions, which received a £4,500 government payment. The agency was fined £75,000 for putting Cameron in a dangerous work environment and ordered to pay £25,000 in court costs.
‘Terrible negligence’
The court heard there was no safety regime at the engineering company, with youngsters left untrained and unsupervised while safety guards had been removed from machinery. Bury teenager Cameron was “proud of himself” when he got the job, his mother Joanne Hill said outside court.
He had only worked at the firm for a month before he died from a serious head injury on 8 January 2013. Ms Hill said: “He should never have died for doing the right thing, for going to work to earn a living and to be trained to become an engineer. “Cameron’s death is a tragedy for us. But it wasn’t a tragic accident, it was due to terrible negligence and appalling lack of health and safety. “We want the government to make sure no other young person is ever at risk of being killed or hurt on a government-approved apprenticeship, training or work experience.”
‘Waiting to happen’
Passing sentence, Judge David Stockdale QC, said: “These young men – inadequately trained, inexperienced, unqualified and virtually unsupervised – were effectively left to their own devices in a workshop containing fast running, unguarded machinery. “To adopt a well-worn but accurate phrase, Cameron Minshull’s horrific accident was an accident waiting to happen.” The court heard it was the practice at Hussain’s firm for young apprentices to clean the lathes, used to cut and make steel components, with emery paper while the machinery was still running. This should not have been possible but safety guards had been disabled, a practice that was “dangerous in the extreme”. Youngsters were simply warned to roll their sleeves up. Cameron, given oversized overalls that did not fit him properly, when he got caught in the machinery, with parts revolving at up to 2,800 times a minute. His upper body was then pulled into the machinery causing “catastrophic and lethal” injuries to his head and face, the court heard. Hussain admitted neglect under health and safety laws and was jailed for eight months and banned from being a company director for 10 years. His son, Akbar Hussain, 35, a supervisor at the firm, also admitted breaking health and safety laws and was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for a year, and a £3,000 fine. Each was ordered to pay £15,000 in court costs
CASE STUDY 2:
As an Apprentice I was finishing up a part in a three jaw chuck that had been started by another operator on another shift. The part was chucked up in soft jaws that had been bored to fit the job. What I didn’t realize or check was that the jaws had not been de-burred after being bored, so there were razor sharp edges on them. While polishing up the finished piece with emery cloth, the emery grabbed and jerked my hand into the chuck. The Result is above, Do not use Emery cloth on a Lathe
CASE STUDY 3:
A tool manufacturer must pay £2000 in penalties after a worker lost a finger when a piece of emery cloth he was using dragged his gloved hand into a metalworking lathe
On 6 May, Reedley magistrates fined CMA Tools (Burnley) £1000 and ordered it to pay £1000 costs after the firm admitted failing to ensure employees’ safety, contrary to Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The court heard how Paul Whittaker was working at CMA’s factory on 1 April 2009 reducing a metal component with an emery cloth when the material became trapped in the lathe’s rotating mechanism.
The cloth pulled in his glove and with it his right hand. He has been unable to return to work since the accident and the injury has significantly affected his ability to grip and lift things
CASE STUDY 4:
On the 28th of August an FPSO Crew member (Mechanic Technician) suffered an open fracture to his right arm, severe damage to his hand/ thumb and further lacerations when he became entangled in a workshop lathe while polishing a machined collar. The task being undertaken had been to adapt the stands of a newly delivered galley steamer by making four collars to fit over the existing legs. The IP was asked to complete final polishing of the machined collar. He was pulled into the lathe as the emery paper and gloves he was using became snagged on the collar. The injured Technician was then flown onshore and received further medical and surgical treatment in Hospital.
Still not convinced watch the clip below. “Contains Graphic Content”
HSE Publication for “Accidents at metalworking lathes using emery cloth” 