Andrew Kelly, 47, needed the major surgery after moving several objects weighing up to 40kg during an eight-hour shift. The yard supervisor for global recycling giant Sims Group UK, who has worked for the firm for 31 years, was unable to access lifting equipment when instructed to move heavy objects like lorry batteries and fridge motors to various parts of the yard for collection.

He said: “I knew that it would take me several weeks to recover from the operation so contacted the union because I was worried about what it would mean for me and my family financially.” He added: “The hernia was painful and it slowed me down a lot. I wasn’t able to lift and found walking difficult. Since the operation I have been able to return to work but I still suffer from some discomfort.”

Thompsons Solicitors, the law firm brought in by Mr Kelly’s union, GMB, to handle a compensation case, argued the Sims Group, part of the worldwide Sims Metal Management group, should have risk assessed the task and provided either equipment to move the objects or assistance from other employees. Mr Kelly has now received an undisclosed sum in compensation from the firm.

Andy Worth from the GMB said: “Long established employers like these really have no excuse not to think ahead when they ask employees to lift heavy weights with no help. Mr Kelly’s losses and pain lie at their door when a simple risk assessment could easily have avoided the accident.”

The company’s safety record has been called into question recently. Sims Group UK has been prosecuted twice by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in last three years for criminal breaches of safety law, the latest in April 2010 following a workplace death and resulting in a six figure fine.

FOUR FINGERS Plastics recycling worker Wesley Dickinson lost four fingers as a result of the negligence of his employer. The firm received a small fine.

A UK plastics recycling company has been fined £2,500 after a worker had four of his fingers severed.

Wesley Dickinson, 22, was trying to remove a guillotine jam at Centriforce Products Ltd in Liverpool when his fingers became trapped. Doctors reattached two of his fingers, but they have limited movement.

The company, which admitted breaching safety regulations, said it regretted the accident in May 2008. Centriforce was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the incident and was fined £2,500 this month by Liverpool magistrates and ordered to pay £2,438 in costs.

HSE inspector Martin Paren said: “This incident has had a devastating impact on Mr Dickinson, who is only in his early 20s. He cannot return to his old job and will not be able to do manual work in the foreseeable future, due to the limited strength and movement in his right hand.”

He added: “The company should have had a guard on the guillotine to prevent workers from reaching the blade. An automatic mechanism should also have been in place so that the power was cut if the guard was opened. Instead Mr Dickinson wrongly assumed that a colleague had switched the guillotine off, and he had four fingers cut off as a result.”

Unite member Stanley Gibbons, 66, a fitter working for a metals recycling firm, was left with a damaged left shoulder after being forced to carry out heavy manual work despite warning his employer he suffered from a frozen shoulder, a condition which leaves the shoulder painful and stiff.

After the warnings Mr Gibbons damaged his shoulder during two separate incidents in May and June 2005 when he was involved in work with heavy machinery in his job for European Metal Recycling Ltd (EMRL) in Dagenham. After the second injury Mr Gibbons was forced to retire on medical grounds. He can no longer play golf or do anything that needs the use of both his arms.

In a Unite-backed compensation claim, lawyers successfully argued that Mr Gibbons should have been placed on light duties after suffering from a frozen shoulder in 2004. EMRL admitted liability and settled the claim out of court for £57,000.

Mr Gibbons said: “I had told my employer about my frozen shoulder but I was never given the option of working on light duties. My workload remained the same as it always had been but my shoulder wasn’t up to it.” He added: “I decided to pursue compensation because I had missed out on three years of income and pension.”

Unite regional secretary Steve Hart commented: “Employers need to make sure that where heavy lifting work is involved that their employees are physically fit enough to cope with the demands of the job. Mr Gibbon’s frozen shoulder meant he wasn’t up to the job and when he told his employer about his injury he should have been given a role that was less demanding but, in fact he was ignored.”

UNISON member Alan Shambrook, 55, tripped on a raised paving slab in July 2005, while working for Stevenage Borough Council. The council refuse worker was collecting recycling boxes when he fell badly on his left knee, shoulder and elbow. He had to have two operations on his shoulder, take 15 months off work and has been left unable to do a number of activities, including heavy lifting and swimming.

The grandfather was awarded compensation from Hertfordshire County Council at Luton Crown Court.

Mr Shambrook said the “extremely painful” injury has changed his life dramatically, adding: “I also had to stop my recycling duties and take a lesser-paid job driving a road sweeper, which has hit me financially.”

UNISON regional secretary Greg Grant said: “This accident could so easily have been prevented. Sadly, he will continue to suffer as he is unable to do things he took for granted before, like playing with his grandson. And he has been forced to take a job that pays him less.”