It was during Tuesday morning that a workplace accident occurred in an industrial area in Uppsala. According to the report to the Swedish Work Environment Authority, it was when an operator, a 35-year-old man, was about to enter a machine area at the workplace that something did not go as planned. According to the notification, a machine was in manual mode, which means that it should not be able to spin.
But in this case the machine started.
Stuck – colleague pressed emergency stop
The man went with a piece and got stuck between a table and a pillar and was pinned between his chest and waist. A colleague pressed the emergency stop and thus managed to reverse the machine to free the man. In connection with that, he fell to the floor and, according to the report, was difficult to contact for 20 minutes.
The man was taken to Academic Hospital, which described his condition as serious.
Investigation initiated
The police have filed a report of causing bodily harm and on Wednesday technicians and a representative from the Work Environment Authority visited the workplace. A question that must be investigated is whether the employer has taken sufficient measures to prevent the machine from being able to start – a so-called safe stop.
The company’s CEO regrets what has happened.
– This was the worst possible start to the year, a serious workplace accident. We started crisis work immediately when it happened and have started an internal investigation, he says.
Safety representative: Serious and unusual accident
Representatives from the company have been in contact with the injured man during Tuesday evening.
– I can confirm that we have spoken to him, but I don’t want to say more than that.
SVT has been in contact with the chief safety officer at the workplace, who does not want to comment during the ongoing investigation. However, he says that it is a serious and unusual accident where it is now a matter of doing everything possible to prevent the incident from happening again.