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An automotive company has been fined following a successful Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, after an employee suffered a serious personal injury in a work accident.
The 37-year-old employee had been working at the firm in Leamington Spa in Lancashire, which manufactures components for vehicle interiors, when the accident at work took place.
The victim had been cleaning the rotating wheel of a foam-slicing machine when his hand got caught in the moving blade, which severed half the index finger of his right hand.
The personal injury was so severe that the worker was forced to have five months off work and reportedly still finds some tasks, such as writing, difficult to perform. He has returned to work for the same company although he is now working in a different role.
An HSE investigation into the incident revealed that the rotating blade had not been guarded at the time of the work accident and no measures had been taken to prevent access to the blade.
The investigation also discovered that staff had not been given any safety instructions on how to clean the machine.
Leamington Spa Magistrates' Court fined the multi-national automotive firm £5,500 after it admitted to breaching Health and Safety Regulations. It was also ordered to pay £2,858 in court costs.
An inspector from the HSE, who spoke after the court hearing, stated that the work accident could have been entirely preventable had the firm complied with Health and Safety Regulations.
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