Company fined £300,000 after surgeons forced to save man’s arm after it is severed by machine

The man – who was 42 at the time – was working a night shift at Tradebe Healthcare National Limited’s site on Elgin Industrial Estate in Swindon, Wiltshire, when the incident happened in February 2022. He was attempting to unblock an obstruction in an autoclave machine used for high temperature sterilisation of waste when his left arm became trapped and crushed by the machine’s door, severing it from the elbow down.

He was rushed to hospital where doctors spent six hours saving his arm. Although he has since undergone three major surgeries to restore the use of his hand – including having skin grafts taken from the thigh of his left leg as well as veins from his left and right legs transplanted into his arm – he now suffers from very limited movement in his left hand. He also struggles to complete many everyday tasks independently and still suffers constant pain.

Swindon Magistrates’ Court heard the machine was surrounded by an enclosure which included an access gate at its rear. The man had used this unsecured gate to walk into the enclosure to reach in to remove the debris. However, as he was doing so, his colleague was unable to see him and, due to miscommunication, mistakenly resumed operation of the machine.

The subsequent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation revealed multiple safety failings by the company, including insufficient measures to prevent employees being put at risk when clearing blockages from the autoclave and employees being put at risk due to the failure to ensure the machine was properly isolated before cleaning. The court also heard that employees were not provided with sufficient information and instruction about how to use and how to clean the machine safely and were not suitably supervised.

Commenting after the case, investigating HSE inspector Emma Preston said: “This was a harrowing incident made more tragic by the fact that events of this kind are all-too foreseeable.

“Accidents which happen when cleaning and maintaining machinery often result in life-changing injuries, which is why companies need to make sure they have robust lock-off procedures, effective guarding, and that all sources of power are fully isolated before work begins.

“The man affected by this incident faces a long road to recovery and we hope today’s outcome provides him a measure of justice.”

Tradebe Healthcare National Limited of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. As well as the fine of £300,000, the company was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £18,710.