Joinery company fined after machinery accident

A carpentry company has been fined £3,000 after a worker’s finger was amputated while he was operating an unguarded machine.

Prospect Joinery Ltd, based in Stourbridge, pleaded guilty to breaching part of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs for the incident last summer, which left the 59-year-old worker with an amputated right hand index finger, a broken middle finger and severe cuts to other fingers.

The employee had been making wooden beading by hand-feeding lengths of wood into a machine when the accident happened.

The injuries, which included nerve and tendon damage has meant he was unable to return to work following the accident and is currently unemployed.

“Prospect Joinery failed in its role to protect its workers by not properly guarding this machine,” said Health and Safety Executive inspector John Glynn.

“The employee should never have been placed in the position he was, and is now suffering long-term debilitating injuries as a consequence.

“In this case, the risks associated with woodworking machinery are well known, and should have been adequately controlled.”