Recent prosecutions - engineering firm fined £200,000 for injuries to new employee

Prevent injuries from unguarded machinery

This incident highlights the importance of properly guarded machinery and the critical role of safety awareness for new employees, including Day Zero training. To prevent machine-related injuries in your business, commit to an ongoing programme of maintenance, education and compliance.

• Include machinery and guards in your risk assessment process.
• Establish a rolling maintenance schedule and flag performance issues with pre-use checks.
• Ensure staff are trained on safe machinery use and strengthen understanding with regular refresher sessions.
• Take a zero-tolerance stance on removing or overriding guards. Regularly monitor and enforce this policy at all levels of your organisation.
• Display signage to warn operatives of machinery hazards and provide instructions on reporting them.
• Educate staff about emergency stop controls.
• Train your team on how to respond in a machinery-related emergency.