A Norwich printing firm has been fined for safety failings after one of its employees seriously injured his finger in an unguarded machine.
The man, 44, was working for Swallowtail Print Ltd when the incident took place in November 2012.
Last week (28th August), Norwich Magistrates’ Court heard how the worker, who does not wish to be named, opened a service compartment in the printing press because he had to make some adjustments. As he leant into the side panel he slipped and removed his hand, but it got stuck in the moving drive belts and pulleys and he nearly severed his right index finger. He was taken to hospital and had to have three months off work.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched an investigation into the incident and found that, five weeks before the incident took place, a fixed metal guard was removed from the compartment by some other workers making adjustments and hadn’t been put back.
Swallowtail Print Ltd was fined £6,700 and told to pay costs of over £3,000 as well as a £120 victim surcharge. After the case, HSE inspector Paul Unwin, said: “This incident was entirely foreseeable and therefore preventable. The risks to employees from exposed machinery are well known.
“Had Swallowtail Print Ltd met its duties, it would not have been possible for the employee to have accessed moving parts of machinery in this way and an injury would not have occurred.”
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