London mechanic killed
- Thread starter Brunswick Tech
- Start date
double_d
Member
i once got my hand caught in a pulley while cleaning pin conveyour belts slit my middle finger and ripped my nail almost off just hanging on
as usual when i was walking up the front to get some help rag in hand clarit coming out all over the place typical bowlers still whinging about there lane not going
as usual when i was walking up the front to get some help rag in hand clarit coming out all over the place typical bowlers still whinging about there lane not going
Brunswick Tech
Banned
Britain
Times Online July 07, 2006
Father crushed to death by ten-pin bowling machine
By Adam Fresco
A gang of four youths are being hunted by police after a father of one was found crushed to death by a ten-pin bowling mechanism.
The man, who worked at Hollywood Bowl, Barking, east London, was discovered by colleagues stuck under the mechanism last night as people played around him.
Officers are trying to trace four youths who were seen throwing bowling balls down some of the lanes. They want to find out if they threw a ball down lane 18, where the man was working, and triggered off the machine, trapping the man underneath.
It is believed the 31-year-old, from East Ham, had been cleaning and servicing the machine that clears the skittles when it came down on top of him.
Detectives are now viewing CCTV from inside the building to see if they can see what happened.
Detective Chief Inspector Carl Mehta of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, told The Times: "We are aware of a group of four youths, one of whom was throwing balls down some of the lanes.
"There is a possibility that one of the balls may have been thrown down the lane where the deceased was working and it triggered the mechanism that resulted in him being crushed.
"It is a possibility. We don’t know who they are but we are very keen for them to come forward.
"We are urgently trying to review CCTV to get some descriptions of them although it may be that they are completely innocent."
The Fire Brigade were called at 7.30pm last night by staff at Hollywood Bowl and they called the police and ambulance staff who pronounced the man, who has not been named at his family’s request, dead at the scene.
The police are liaising with the Local Authority’s Environmental Health unit to investigate the circumstances surrounding the so far unexplained death.
Mr Mehta is appealing for everyone who was in the Hollywood Bowl after 4pm on Thursday to contact police.
A post mortem examination will be conducted tomorrow at East Ham Mortuary.
Times Online July 07, 2006
Father crushed to death by ten-pin bowling machine
By Adam Fresco
A gang of four youths are being hunted by police after a father of one was found crushed to death by a ten-pin bowling mechanism.
The man, who worked at Hollywood Bowl, Barking, east London, was discovered by colleagues stuck under the mechanism last night as people played around him.
Officers are trying to trace four youths who were seen throwing bowling balls down some of the lanes. They want to find out if they threw a ball down lane 18, where the man was working, and triggered off the machine, trapping the man underneath.
It is believed the 31-year-old, from East Ham, had been cleaning and servicing the machine that clears the skittles when it came down on top of him.
Detectives are now viewing CCTV from inside the building to see if they can see what happened.
Detective Chief Inspector Carl Mehta of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, told The Times: "We are aware of a group of four youths, one of whom was throwing balls down some of the lanes.
"There is a possibility that one of the balls may have been thrown down the lane where the deceased was working and it triggered the mechanism that resulted in him being crushed.
"It is a possibility. We don’t know who they are but we are very keen for them to come forward.
"We are urgently trying to review CCTV to get some descriptions of them although it may be that they are completely innocent."
The Fire Brigade were called at 7.30pm last night by staff at Hollywood Bowl and they called the police and ambulance staff who pronounced the man, who has not been named at his family’s request, dead at the scene.
The police are liaising with the Local Authority’s Environmental Health unit to investigate the circumstances surrounding the so far unexplained death.
Mr Mehta is appealing for everyone who was in the Hollywood Bowl after 4pm on Thursday to contact police.
A post mortem examination will be conducted tomorrow at East Ham Mortuary.
Brunswick Tech
Banned
Times Online July 07, 2006
Father crushed to death by ten-pin bowling machine
By Adam Fresco
A gang of four youths are being hunted by police after a father of one was found crushed to death by a ten-pin bowling mechanism.
The man, who worked at Hollywood Bowl, Barking, east London, was discovered by colleagues stuck under the mechanism last night as people played around him.
Officers are trying to trace four youths who were seen throwing bowling balls down some of the lanes. They want to find out if they threw a ball down lane 18, where the man was working, and triggered off the machine, trapping the man underneath.
It is believed the 31-year-old, from East Ham, had been cleaning and servicing the machine that clears the skittles when it came down on top of him.
Detectives are now viewing CCTV from inside the building to see if they can see what happened.
Detective Chief Inspector Carl Mehta of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, told The Times: "We are aware of a group of four youths, one of whom was throwing balls down some of the lanes.
"There is a possibility that one of the balls may have been thrown down the lane where the deceased was working and it triggered the mechanism that resulted in him being crushed.
"It is a possibility. We don’t know who they are but we are very keen for them to come forward.
"We are urgently trying to review CCTV to get some descriptions of them although it may be that they are completely innocent."
The Fire Brigade were called at 7.30pm last night by staff at Hollywood Bowl and they called the police and ambulance staff who pronounced the man, who has not been named at his family’s request, dead at the scene.
The police are liaising with the Local Authority’s Environmental Health unit to investigate the circumstances surrounding the so far unexplained death.
Mr Mehta is appealing for everyone who was in the Hollywood Bowl after 4pm on Thursday to contact police.
A post mortem examination will be conducted tomorrow at East Ham Mortuary.
Father crushed to death by ten-pin bowling machine
By Adam Fresco
A gang of four youths are being hunted by police after a father of one was found crushed to death by a ten-pin bowling mechanism.
The man, who worked at Hollywood Bowl, Barking, east London, was discovered by colleagues stuck under the mechanism last night as people played around him.
Officers are trying to trace four youths who were seen throwing bowling balls down some of the lanes. They want to find out if they threw a ball down lane 18, where the man was working, and triggered off the machine, trapping the man underneath.
It is believed the 31-year-old, from East Ham, had been cleaning and servicing the machine that clears the skittles when it came down on top of him.
Detectives are now viewing CCTV from inside the building to see if they can see what happened.
Detective Chief Inspector Carl Mehta of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, told The Times: "We are aware of a group of four youths, one of whom was throwing balls down some of the lanes.
"There is a possibility that one of the balls may have been thrown down the lane where the deceased was working and it triggered the mechanism that resulted in him being crushed.
"It is a possibility. We don’t know who they are but we are very keen for them to come forward.
"We are urgently trying to review CCTV to get some descriptions of them although it may be that they are completely innocent."
The Fire Brigade were called at 7.30pm last night by staff at Hollywood Bowl and they called the police and ambulance staff who pronounced the man, who has not been named at his family’s request, dead at the scene.
The police are liaising with the Local Authority’s Environmental Health unit to investigate the circumstances surrounding the so far unexplained death.
Mr Mehta is appealing for everyone who was in the Hollywood Bowl after 4pm on Thursday to contact police.
A post mortem examination will be conducted tomorrow at East Ham Mortuary.
Easy Tiger
Active Member
Tragic story, I feel for the family.
If the machine triggered I'm assuming he hadn't turned the machine off before entering - that's a big no-no, and there is a clear example of why.
If the machine triggered I'm assuming he hadn't turned the machine off before entering - that's a big no-no, and there is a clear example of why.
P
PD186
What a tragic accident.
Can anyone who services these machines tell me do you normally turn them off before you service them? Also can you test the machine to make sure it won’t operate? In my industry we lock out all energy before we work on any equipment and test it to make sure it won’t operate. The only time we will work on a piece of equipment live is to test and only if safe to do so.
Is this a standard practice with bowling techs to?
Can anyone who services these machines tell me do you normally turn them off before you service them? Also can you test the machine to make sure it won’t operate? In my industry we lock out all energy before we work on any equipment and test it to make sure it won’t operate. The only time we will work on a piece of equipment live is to test and only if safe to do so.
Is this a standard practice with bowling techs to?
Brunswick Tech
Banned
PD186 said:
YES!! first rule is safety..................allways turn off the machine before entering it...................if I'm going to be working inside a machine which makes it hard for me to be seen, then I will pull the motor plug as secondary precaution.
I know in the states their workplace health and safety organisation has asked all Tenpin bowling centres to fit "lockout boxes" to every machine.....................maybe this is something Australian centres should introduce before someone is killed. However if the mechanic is too lazy or stupid to turn off the machine now I can't see them using the lockout boxes!
Shawn
P
PD186
Hi Shawn
I have to agree with you on both accounts Pulling the plug is a great idea you can't be to safe.
I am the OH&S rep for the Newcastle branch of the company I work for. I sometimes (most of the time ) feel that I should just bash my head against a wall as this would be less painful than trying to get the guys to do things as they should to comply with our safely rules. This is with instant dismissal if they are caught and constant reminders of what they are doing wrong.
May be they will learn after they get hurt.
Having a lock out box and every one working on the machine putting there lock on it so it can't be operated until everyone is clear sounds like a great idea. It may also save the owner on workers comp insurance as well making it a cheap modification.
I have to agree with you on both accounts Pulling the plug is a great idea you can't be to safe.
I am the OH&S rep for the Newcastle branch of the company I work for. I sometimes (most of the time ) feel that I should just bash my head against a wall as this would be less painful than trying to get the guys to do things as they should to comply with our safely rules. This is with instant dismissal if they are caught and constant reminders of what they are doing wrong.
May be they will learn after they get hurt.
Having a lock out box and every one working on the machine putting there lock on it so it can't be operated until everyone is clear sounds like a great idea. It may also save the owner on workers comp insurance as well making it a cheap modification.
Brunswick Tech
Banned
Phil, sounds like you have a challenging job.
Off topic........................company that I currently work for supplied over 700 pairs of safety glasses in 12 months to a workforce of 120, yet on any given day one can walk the production floor and see only 2 or 3 workers wearing the glasses!!
Back on topic..................
From what I have heard, the American insurance companies more than offset the cost of the lockout boxes by offering big discounts for any centre who has them fitted to all the machines.
I can tell you from experience that Australian Tenpin bowling centres rarely if ever comply with all the relevant safety leglisation................every privately owend bowling centre that I have worked for have had some or all the safety guards removed from the machinery, how can this be legal?
I've seen paddle pop sticks jammed into 240vac relays because the machine has an electrical fault, this presents not only the obvious dangers but it also bypasses the machines limit or safety switches, in the event of a mechanical jam the machine has no way of shutting itself down besides a thermal overload of the motor, so it begins to self destruct.
Shawn
Off topic........................company that I currently work for supplied over 700 pairs of safety glasses in 12 months to a workforce of 120, yet on any given day one can walk the production floor and see only 2 or 3 workers wearing the glasses!!
Back on topic..................
From what I have heard, the American insurance companies more than offset the cost of the lockout boxes by offering big discounts for any centre who has them fitted to all the machines.
I can tell you from experience that Australian Tenpin bowling centres rarely if ever comply with all the relevant safety leglisation................every privately owend bowling centre that I have worked for have had some or all the safety guards removed from the machinery, how can this be legal?
I've seen paddle pop sticks jammed into 240vac relays because the machine has an electrical fault, this presents not only the obvious dangers but it also bypasses the machines limit or safety switches, in the event of a mechanical jam the machine has no way of shutting itself down besides a thermal overload of the motor, so it begins to self destruct.
Shawn
S
Shamous69
Very tragic. The poor family.
That's dodgy! Didn't think it got that bad.
I've worked at two centres. The one i'm at now is a good choice. Safety is a big issue, and all guards are in place at all times, there are strict procedures when cleaning machinery etc. All chassis are covered and screwed on, so no wondering fingers of any techies can cause harm.
As you guys above said, it's important to switch off machinery when entering. I always turn all motors off if I'm in the pit, and if I have to adjust anything on the table etc, I pull all motor plugs out.
Brunswick Tech said:
That's dodgy! Didn't think it got that bad.
I've worked at two centres. The one i'm at now is a good choice. Safety is a big issue, and all guards are in place at all times, there are strict procedures when cleaning machinery etc. All chassis are covered and screwed on, so no wondering fingers of any techies can cause harm.
As you guys above said, it's important to switch off machinery when entering. I always turn all motors off if I'm in the pit, and if I have to adjust anything on the table etc, I pull all motor plugs out.
F
FemTech_UK
I know it's an old thread but i'd just like to say:
I'm a Hollywood bowl technician who has worked the site in Barking, they run on AMF 82-90's. The tech in question did in fact cut the power but left the motors plugged in. He was on top of the table cleaning it and somehow the momentom of the table being 'wiggled' caused the motor to creep and trap him. The 4 lads that were under suspiscion as it turned out had nothin to do with the accident, tragic tho it was.
I'm a Hollywood bowl technician who has worked the site in Barking, they run on AMF 82-90's. The tech in question did in fact cut the power but left the motors plugged in. He was on top of the table cleaning it and somehow the momentom of the table being 'wiggled' caused the motor to creep and trap him. The 4 lads that were under suspiscion as it turned out had nothin to do with the accident, tragic tho it was.
mongoliantreesloth
Member
Thank you for the updated info.
Lyndsay_Packer
StormNation
first rule before getting into a pinspotter - drop the sweep into the guard position then I generally turn off all sources of power (82-70's) the 4 switches in the control box, the switch ontop of the machine and also pull the Russell Stoll plug - if something fails then there's a problem (the dropped sweep stops the urge of bowlers bowling at you which has been an occurence where I am
