Firm fined after two workers hurt A sawmilling firm where two employees were seriously hurt within three months of each other has been fined £28,000 for neglecting safety systems.
John Wilson, 55, of Dalmellington in Ayrshire was working for Adam Wilson and Sons in Troon, when he fell through a gap in a raised walkway above a conveyor belt in May 2007.
In August that year 59-year-old Robert Cumming, from Ayr got his head trapped between the metal parts of a hoist at the same plant, after the machine was switched on while he was working on it.
Adam Wilson and Sons Limited, of Harbour Road, Troon, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They were fined £8,000 for the first incident, and £20,000 for the second.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Adam Wilson and Sons did not have safe systems of work in place for maintaining the machines. The investigation also found that staff had not been given enough information, training, instruction and supervision on the importance of safe systems of work and machinery isolation when doing maintenance work.
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