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the driver by fracturing an elbow. "Horseplay" was suspected in this case
and the management forthwith forbade the injured person to drive a fork lift
truck in the future.
A male employee was leaving an office block and tripped over the inner
door base plate, which was not level with the floor. In falling he struck and
fell through the outer glass entrance door and received head and hand
injuries. On investigation, all four base plates were found not to be flush
with the surrounding floor and the Company's attention was drawn to the
contravention of Section 16. As a result, all brass plates were countersunk
flush with the floor surface.
The last card through a burster machine (record card dissector) failed to
be carried through the rollers. A female employee, in endeavouring to flick
the card through the rollers, sustained chipping and bruising of a finger bone
by the in-running nips of the rollers. The machine was considered to be fully
guarded, but, through the co-operation of the firm, and with the advice of the
Inspector appointed under Section 57 of the Act {H.M. Deputy Superintending
Inspector of Factories) the protection of the machine was so amended as to
prevent staff obtaining access to the rollers when the machine was in motion.
An employee opening tea chests received deep laceration of a finger
caused when detaching meta! lining. Protective gloves which were provided
by the Company for use when opening boxes of this nature were not worn.
A resharpened guillotine blade, 3 feet long and 3 inches wide, and
weighing 20 lbs. was received back from the grinders, unwrapped, and put on
a shelf about 5 feet high, on top of some folded cardboard boxes in a shop
store. In course of time, papers and other documents were put on top of the
guillotine blade, and no more thought was given to the location of the blade.
A youth went some time later, to get the cardboard covers apparently unaware
of the presence of the blade. In pulling the box covers sharply the guillotine
blade fell, first striking the floor and then falling across the instep of the
employee causing laceration of the foot. The culprit could not be identified
because of changes in personnel, including shop managers, and investigation
was rendered so much more difficult.
Following upon the investigation, an old fashioned guillotine was found
on the premises, used only by the manager for price ticket cutting. The company
were instructed forthwith to guard the machine in accordance with the requirements
of Section 17 of the Act, or to remove the guillotine from the premises.
The guillotine was removed.
In a large retail shop a female employee opened a boiler house door and
fell down three steps into the boiler house injuring her back and head. She
had mistaken the adjoining boiler house door for the door to the ladies'
toilet.The premises had been inspected some time previously when the sanitary
accommodation was found to be properly marked. As a result of the
accident the Company was instructed to paint on the respective doors words
indicating the sanitary accommodation and the boiler house respectively; the
boiler house door to be kept locked and the key to be held only by authorised
persons.