• Worker, who was 32 at the time, suffered life-changing injuries after leg became entangled in road milling machine.
• HSE investigation found company routinely operated machinery without manufacturer’s safety guard fitted.
• Employee’s leg had to be amputated at the scene by emergency services.

A road planing contractor in Leicestershire has been fined £92,450 after an employee’s leg became entangled in a road milling machine and had to be amputated.

On 14 February 2024, the 32-year-old employee, working for Power Plane Limited, was operating a road milling machine at Wade Road in Basingstoke. The operator’s foot became caught by the rotating milling drum, dragging him into the machine.

His right leg had to be amputated by emergency services at the scene to free him from the machine. The life-changing injury left him unable to work for more than a year. He continues to suffer long-term mental and physical effects, including PTSD and persistent pain, as well as having to adapt to living with a lifelong disability.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Power Plane Limited had failed to take effective measures to prevent access to the dangerous rotating milling drum of the road planing machine. The manufacturer’s ‘protective bow’, designed to restrict access to the milling drum, had not been attached to the machine. The investigation also found it was common practice for the company to operate milling machines without the guard fitted.

HSE guidance states employers must take effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery. Mobile work equipment should be used in accordance with the manufacturer’s health and safety instructions.

Further guidance on the safe use of mobile work equipment can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/mobile.htm

Power Plane Limited, of Highway House, Asfare Business Park, Hinckley Road, Hinckley, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £92,450 and ordered to pay £6,781 in costs at Aldershot Magistrates’ Court on 13 May 2026.

HSE inspector Peter Crees said:

“Every year, a significant proportion of accidents, many of them serious or fatal, are caused by poorly guarded work equipment.

“This was a wholly avoidable incident, caused by a failure to guard dangerous parts. Had the company simply fitted the manufacturer’s guard to the machine, this life-changing injury could have been prevented.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by enforcement lawyer Rebecca Schwartz and paralegal officer Farhat Basir.

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/2306
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases are available here: https://press.hse.gov.uk/
4. Guidance on the provision and use of work equipment can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/puwer.htm
5. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so. The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in England can be found here: https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/guidelines/organisations-breach-of-duty-of-employer-towards-employees-and-non-employees-breach-of-duty-of-self-employed-to-others-breach-of-health-and-safety-regulations/

• Worker’s clothing was trapped in machinery.
• HSE investigation found no fixed or interlocking guarding had been installed.
• HSE guidance on safeguarding machinery is available on its website

A poultry and egg production company has been convicted after a worker suffered serious nerve damage when his clothing became entangled in conveyor belt machinery at a farm near Banff.

On 15 October 2024, a 36-year-old man was working at Mains of Auchenbadie Farm during a routine cleaning operation.

During his shift, the employee heard an unusual noise coming from an egg collection conveyor. Without stopping the machinery, as he had been trained to do, he climbed into the confined space between the two manure conveyor belts to investigate. His clothing was caught in the in-running nip between the pressure roller and the underside of the upper manure conveyor belt. His colleague used an emergency stop button to halt the machinery and the emergency services were called to free him.

The employee was taken to hospital where he was found to have suffered nerve damage in both arms. It took three months for full function to be restored to his right arm. He returned to work in February 2025 and remains employed by the company.

An HSE investigation found that, while Duncan Farms Limited had risk assessments in place covering entanglement hazards and had instructed employees to wear close-fitting clothing, no fixed or interlocking guarding had been installed at the drive end of the manure conveyors to prevent access to the dangerous nip points when the conveyor was operating. There were no measures in place that would have prevented a person accessing the in-running nips, or which would have automatically stopped the belt before they could be reached.

Employers have a legal duty under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) to take effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery. Fixed or interlocking guarding is the most effective means of achieving this and should be the primary control measure – not reliance on clothing guidance or training alone. Further guidance on safeguarding machinery can be found on our website at introduction to machinery safety .

Duncan Farms Limited, of 1 Muirden Farm, Turriff, AB53 4NH, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 11(1) and (2) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £53,000 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on 7 May 2026.

Jurate Gruzaite, HM inspector of Health and Safety, said:

“This incident could have had devastating consequences.

“Workers must never be placed in a position where they can access dangerous moving parts of machinery while it is in operation. Guarding is not optional it is a fundamental requirement of the law. Had appropriate fixed guards been in place at the drive end of these conveyors, this injury would not have happened.

“I would urge all employers who use conveyor systems to review their guarding arrangements without delay.”

Further Information

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. Relevant guidance can be found here Introduction to machinery safety – HSE
5. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in Scotland can be found here.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today notified His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) of its intention to issue a Crown Censure following an investigation into radon exposure at HMP Dartmoor in Devon. The investigation found that HMPPS failed to adequately manage radon exposure at the prison.

The Health and Safety Executive was first notified by HMPPS of suspected overexposure in February 2023. Subsequent monitoring confirmed that radon concentrations in areas of the prison, including prisoner accommodation, resulted in prisoners and staff being exposed to radiation levels above the legal limit.

HSE’s investigation concluded both prisoners and staff had been exposed to radon significantly above the specified dose limits for a prolonged period of time.

HSE took enforcement action highlighting breaches of the regulations in both February and in December 2023. HMPPS decided to mothball HMP Dartmoor in 2024.

Following an investigation by HSE inspectors, a file was passed to HSE’s legal services division for review, which in accordance with Code for Crown Prosecutors has authorised a Crown Censure.

A Crown Censure is the maximum sanction available to HSE against a Crown body. A decision to authorise a Crown Censure is not a formal finding of guilt – is equivalent to a decision to authorise criminal charges, in line with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

Following the decision to issue a Crown Censure, a formal hearing will take place to confirm the censure.

If a censure is confirmed at a hearing, it acts as an official reprimand and provides a lasting, public record of a Crown body’s failure to comply with the law. There is no financial penalty.

Further Information

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety.

Crown Censure is the process by which HSE holds Crown bodies to account for serious breaches of health and safety law. You can find a record of Crown Censures issued by HSE at: Crown Censures taken by HSE since 1 April 1999

No additional charges or sanctions against other organisations or individuals are being brought in relation to radon exposure at HMP Dartmoor.

Radon exposure & legal limits

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas. Parts of Devon, including Dartmoor, are in areas where higher radon levels can occur due to the underlying geology. Breathing in radon is the second largest cause of lung cancer in the UK, resulting in over 1000 fatal cancers per year.

Radon concentration is measured in Becquerels per cubic metre (Bq/m³). The legal limit for radon exposure is set out in the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017. This sets exposure limits for employees and other persons.

HSE is responsible for ensuring workplaces comply with the regulations – and provides guidance for employers: Radon in the workplace – HSE

To find out more about radon and related health risks, visit UKradon – Home

• Company had skips piled three-high in places.
• Risk of collapse described as ‘potentially catastrophic’.
• HSE guidance on the clear segregation between vehicles and pedestrians.

A waste and recycling company in South East London has been fined after Britain’s workplace regulator found multiple failures, including skips being dangerously stockpiled.

Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited the site of Recycling Material Supplies Limited on Ashleigh Commercial Estate, Westmoor Street on 11 August 2022. When they arrived, the inspectors observed various vehicles, including tipper lorries and loading shovels being driven freely around the site. The pedestrian entrance was chained and padlocked, with pedestrians forced to use the vehicle entrance route used by lorries and other vehicles. There was no effective segregation by designated pedestrian routes or crossing points.

Health and safety legislation requires workplaces to be organised so that pedestrians and vehicles can circulate safely. Where large vehicles must reverse, employers must consider additional precautions and implement them where appropriate to protect those working nearby.

Although the company had a visual traffic plan, it was not visible to staff or visitors and was out of date because the site configuration had changed since it was produced, meaning it did not address key pedestrian movements such as access across the yard to toilets.

Inspectors also found skips unsafely stacked, with some of them deformed, adding to the instability. The height of the stack – which was three-high in places – also increased the likelihood of collapse or falling. The skips were also stacked in an area regularly accessed by workers, on foot or in vehicles, placing them at great risk of them falling.

The concerns led to a further visit 11 days later after a number of improvement notices were served requiring the company to take action within a specified timescale to remedy health and safety breaches of law. The subsequent HSE investigation found that the company had previously been the subject of enforcement action, with prohibition notices served in 2019 in relation to stockpiling and risks of collapse.

Recycled Material Supplies Limited, of Building 3, Ashleigh Commercial Estate, 87 Westmoor Street, London, failed to fulfil duties under Section 2 and Section 3 of the Act by putting employees, agency workers and other persons on site at risk of death and/or serious personal injury and pleased guilty of two offences under s33(1)(a) of the Act.

The company was fined £167,000 and was ordered to pay £16,195 costs at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on 5 May 2026.

HSE enforcement lawyer Rebecca Schwartz said:

“This company put the lives of its workers at danger in a number of ways.

“Given the size and weight of skips, the potential consequences of any collapse were potentially catastrophic.

“The waste and recycling industry has a poor safety record and it is only due to sheer good fortune that nobody was seriously injured or killed.

“The fact this company had previously been made aware of its legal duties, makes this case the more stark.

“We take these failures seriously and will hold those to account who fail to keep their workers and other people safe.”

The HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Rebecca Schwartz and paralegal officer Melissa Wardle.

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases are available.
4. Relevant guidance can found here: Workplace transport safety and hand sorting of recyclables with vehicle assistance (PDF) .
5. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so. The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in England and Wales can be found here and for those in Scotland here.

• Landmark guidance issued for first time as regulator responds to silicosis deaths of young workers 

• Dry cutting declared unacceptable and water suppression confirmed as legal requirement.  

• Enforcement measures ramped up with the first of over 1,000 inspections already underway   

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today announced a major package of measures to protect workers from the dangers of engineered stone dust, including silicosis, a deadly-but-preventable lung disease caused by breathing in silica dust released during stone cutting.  

The package includes the publication of new guidance making clear that dry cutting of engineered stone is unacceptable and that water suppression techniques, already used by many industry leaders, are how businesses should meet the legal requirement. 

The guidance, launched ahead of this week’s Stone & Surfaces Show of industry leaders and tradespeople, will be backed-up by a nationwide inspection programme. Over the next 12 months, HSE inspectors will conduct more than 1,000 visits to fabricators across Great Britain, with enforcement action taken against those failing to meet the required standards. The first inspections are already underway.  

The deaths of two young workers from silicosis in recent years prompted calls for action on engineered stone cutting from MPs, trade unions, and medical professionals.   

In response to these emerging cases, HSE undertook a two-year process of research and industry engagement and has concluded that the most effective and proportionate action is to make sure proper controls are in place and actively enforced.  

The research found that dry fabrication typically results in exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) five to ten times higher than wet methods using equivalent tools. It also found that lower-content silica engineered stone is available at the same quality, removing any reason for businesses not to switch to less dangerous products. On the back of this evidence, HSE is acting decisively to ensure those controls become universal across the industry. 

To provide clarity to businesses and workers, HSE has published its first-ever COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) guidance sheet specifically for engineered stone. The guidance sets out in plain English what employers must do: switch to engineered stone with a low silica content; use on-tool water suppression, control mist; provide appropriate respiratory protective equipment (RPE); and carry out regular health surveillance. These are legal requirements. 

Mike Calcutt, Deputy Director in HSE’s Engagement and Policy Division, said:  

“Today’s guidance marks our most significant intervention in the engineered stone sector to date, and not without good reason.  

“Silicosis is incurable, but it is entirely preventable. No worker should lose their life to a lung disease caused by their job, and that is why we have taken this action. 

“We have spent the past two years conducting extensive research and industry engagement to understand the scale of this risk. What we found was stark. Many businesses are not putting the right controls in place, they are still using engineered stone with high silica content, and dry cutting, which must stop. 

“To every employer in this sector: the guidance is now published, the expectations are clear, and our inspectors are coming. Those who are cutting corners are not just putting their workers at risk — they are undercutting the businesses doing things properly. We will create a level playing field. 

“To workers handling engineered stone: know your rights and know the controls that should be keeping you safe. If you have concerns, contact HSE.” 

Engineered stone, widely used in kitchen and bathroom worktops, can contain up to 95% crystalline silica. Unlike natural stone, where silica-related disease typically takes decades to develop, recent cases have suggested that exposure to engineered stone dust can cause silicosis in a matter of months or years. Workers can suffer permanent and irreversible lung damage before experiencing any symptoms. By the time symptoms appear, it may be too late. 

Sir Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Security and Disability, said:  

“Every worker deserves to come home safe, without fear of losing their life to a preventable, deadly lung disease caused by their job.  

“This new guidance gives businesses clear, unambiguous instructions on what the law requires, and this spring and summer HSE will carry out more than 1,000 inspections across the industry to make sure those standards are enforced, and the lives of workers protected.” 

Kevin Bampton, Chief Executive Officer of the British Occupational Hygiene Society, said:  

“While the cause of headline-grabbing acute silicosis lies with businesses which blatantly flout the law and exploit workers, HSE’s revised guidance provides much-needed clarity for the mainstream industry and for the professionals supporting it. As the UK’s leading scientific organization on health protection in the workplace, we are grateful to HSE’s science team for addressing previously unanswered questions about the effectiveness of controls. The guidance reflects this evidence base and brings clarity to what is needed to help protect workers.” 

Nigel Fletcher, Operations Officer at the Worktop Fabricators Federation, said: 

“We welcome HSE’s new guidance, which clarifies what good control looks like when working with engineered stone. The WFF is committed to advancing worker safety in the fabrication industry by training and education of control measures, reducing dust exposure, and addressing other critical hazards. 

“Consumers and designers can be assured that WFF membership signifies responsible practices that ensure worker well-being throughout the process, which is why we created the WFF quality mark. Only fabricators meeting rigorous standards will be granted permission to display the WFF quality mark. More than a logo, it demonstrates a company’s commitment to health and safety and reflects their investment in resources and dedication to reputable practices.” 

The inspection campaign forms part of HSE’s wider programme of work in the sector running through 2026 to 2027, which includes continued engagement with employers and trade bodies to drive compliance and raise awareness of legal duties. 

Workers or employers with concerns about the level of controls in their workplace can contact HSE on 0300 003 1647 or visit hse.gov.uk. If they are concerned about their own health they should seek medical advice.  

Ends 

Notes to editors: 

• The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives. 

• HSE’s new guidance for engineered stone outlines the controls that should be in place when working with the material, which effectively rules out dry-cutting, unless businesses can demonstrate an equally effective or better control is in place. This is not a new law, or a formal prohibition as would be achieved with changes to legislation 

• The new COSHH guidance for engineered stone is available at hse.gov.uk https://www.hse.gov.uk/stonemasonry/working-engineered-stone-control-silica-risk.htm. 

• Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) dust is invisible to the naked eye and can penetrate deep into the lungs, causing silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer. 

• HSE’s 1,000+ inspection programme begins May/June 2026 and runs through the 2026/27 period. 

• HSE is also working with manufacturers, suppliers and importers to encourage the supply of lower-silica engineered stone products, which research indicates are a viable alternative to high-silica materials. Manufacturers have a legal duty under Section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to provide adequate information about the risks associated with their products and the controls required to work with them safely. 

• Further details on the latest HSE news releases are available at hse.gov.uk.