Foundry fined after worker’s death

Stuart Stead (49), of Mexborough, was using a hand-held grinder at HI Quality Steel Castings Ltd, Sheffield, in 2012 when the abrasive disc fitted to it exploded catapulting fragments across his workbay. 

A shard went through Mr Stead’s visor and hit him in the mouth, leaving the dad of three with fatal injuries.

The incident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which prosecuted the firm at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday (May 11). 

The company had pleaded guilty to a serious safety breach in February.

The HSE found the abrasive disc was nine inches in diameter although the grinder had a maximum permissible tool diameter of only two inches unless guarded.

It was also not properly attached to the grinder and running 12,000 revs per minute when the recommended maximum was 6,650 rpm.

The grinder had no guard so as it exploded the pieces were scattered at force across the bay.

Two of Mr Stead’s colleagues said they had heard a loud bang and one saw him collapse to the floor. 

They ran to help him and saw the piece of disc in his mouth.

HSE said the excessive speed of the grinder coupled with the added load caused by the non-standard attachment had put stresses on the disc which were beyond its capacity.

The court was told that HSE’s investigation had uncovered previous incidents when discs had come off grinders but none had been mentioned in health and safety meeting minutes.

In 2011, a 230mm diameter disc suffered a blade disintegration and part of it went through the foundry roof, the court heard.

On another occasion, a sand disc attached to a grinder using an adapter shattered and put a hole in a bench and shattered a light fitting.

A disc which flew off a grinder being used by Mr Stead was never found.

And on another occasion a cutting disc bounced off a worker’s stomach.

In the week before the fatality, a lump came off a disc and hit a worker under the eye.

HSE said HI Quality Steel Castings Ltd had allowed the use of unsafe combinations of parts with the grinders, many of which were unguarded. 

It said that despite some initial training, employees did not understand rotation speeds of machines versus discs and had free access to a wide variety of them, contributing to the unsafe combinations.

The HSE also said that the company failed to monitor grinder use so unsafe practices were not picked up and near-miss incidents were not properly investigated.

The Chesterfield-based firm was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £24,000 costs after admitting breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

HSE inspector Jill Thompson said: “This was a horrific incident that devastated Mr Stead’s wife, his children and wider family. It is also, tragically, one that could have been avoided had the company focused on its responsibility to ensure the safety of their employees.

“The near-misses should have been a big warning flag to HI Quality Steel Castings that there was a serious risk that a worker could be severely injured or killed.

“Employers must make sure that all work involving grinding is assessed for safety to make sure that poor or potentially dangerous practices are removed.”