Technology giant Dyson has been fined more than a million pounds after one of its staff was injured when a huge milling machine fell on top of him.
The Wiltshire-headquartered business was ordered to pay £1.2m at Swindon Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to breaching health and safety laws.
A man at the company’s factory in Malmesbury was injured when the 1.5 tonne piece of equipment fell on him while he was working in August 2019. He was moving a computer-assisted milling machine, along with another employee, at the Tetbury Hill site.
They lifted it up with a five-tonne jack, and were replacing some wheels with wooden blocks when it fell. It struck the man and his head and chest were injured, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said.
Its investigators found Dyson had not provided “suitable and sufficient information, instruction and training” to its staff. It had also not put systems in place to ensure that the machine was moved safely.
The man escaped being crushed only because the machine landed on two toolboxes and the handle of another machine.
“This incident could have been fatal,” said HSE inspector James Hole. “Those in control of work have a duty to assess the risks, devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workforce. Had a suitable safe system of work been in place this incident and the related injuries could have been prevented.”
Dyson said the health, safety and wellbeing of its people is its “number one priority”.
The company said in a statement: “Prior to this case, Dyson has had no convictions, or enforcement history related to health and safety at work. We are thankful that the employee was not more seriously hurt and has been able to return to work at Dyson.
“As an engineering company, we use complex and often heavy equipment and take care to do so safely. We deeply regret that this happened and we accept the court’s decision today.
“We were pleased that in its judgement the court noted our ‘excellent safety record’, our ‘prompt response to this incident and full cooperation at the highest level within the company’ and said that Dyson is an ‘exemplary corporate citizen’.”
