A biomass company near Glasgow has been fined £129,000 after a worker suffered partial severance of three fingers while attempting to clear a blockage at the Daldowie Fuel Plant in Uddingston.
The incident occurred at SMW Limited's site in June 2023. Garry Roberts, 57, a shift operator with 17 years' experience at the plant, was clearing a blockage on a surge hopper rotary lock valve containing blades rotating at 25 revolutions per minute. He removed a metal clip and rubber gaiter to access the valve, believing the blades had been switched off following radio communication with the control room. Due to interference on the hand-held radios — and with no line of sight between the two areas — the communication was misunderstood and the valve remained operational. Roberts inserted his right hand into the hopper and sustained partial severance of his index, middle and ring fingers.
A Health and Safety Executive investigation found that SMW Limited had failed to prevent access to dangerous parts of the machinery, despite having a specific safe system of work in place for the task, on which Roberts had been trained as recently as April 2023.
At Hamilton Sheriff Court, SMW Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £9,000.
Sheriff Kevin McCallum KC noted that Roberts had not returned to work since the incident and had been advised he would be unable to return to the same type of work, describing the consequences as "life-changing."
HSE inspector Nicola Kerr said the injuries were "completely preventable" and that relying solely on radio communication to control isolation, where there was no line of sight and interference was possible, was "simply not good enough." She added that a fixed guard would have been a reasonably practicable measure that could have prevented the incident.
