Complacent attitude leads to £367,000 penalty

A textile manufacturer has been convicted of safety failings after a worker was killed when he was dragged into a stretch roller.

Javeed Ghaffar was working the night shift at IFG Drake – a worldwide manufacturer of polypropylene, polyethylene, polyamide fibre and filament yarn – when the incident happened on 24 March 2017.

The 51-year-old was using a knife to clear a blockage in the machine when he was suddenly dragged into it. He was pulled around the roller at least twice

Colleagues at the plant in Golcar, Huddersfield pressed the emergency stop button and cut his clothes, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Leeds Crown Court was told he had sustained 26 rib fractures, some of which had torn his left lung, a fractured pelvis and a fracture-dislocation to his spine.

There were also lacerations to his liver and a traumatic dissection of the aorta. Minimal internal bleeding indicated a very short survival time.

The machine, which was used to make fine polypropylene fibres for tea bags, commonly ‘lapped’ fibres on the rollers, which caused a blockage.

According to the Examiner Live, prosecutor Craig Hassall said the fibres were sometimes cut by putting a wooden pole with a serrated metal blade on the end through a safety gate.