Typical types of reported injuries in the Printing industry

A garden and household tool manufacturer in Nottingham has been prosecuted after a worker’s finger was crushed in an unguarded machine leaving him with such severe injuries that he needed to have it amputated.

The Alfreton-based shift manager, who has asked not to be named, was working at Fiskars UK Ltd’s Bulwell factory in December 2011 when the incident occurred. He had stepped onto a block printing machine which uses a weight to push down on a ram and emboss foil. However, as he attempted to help colleagues fix a machine fault and adjust the weight, with the controls of the machine operated by his colleague, the index finger of his left hand became caught between the weight and the top of the ram and was crushed. His finger had to be amputated to below his second knuckle and he couldn’t return to work for a month.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that there had been a Perspex guard missing on the machine on the day of the incident. The firm had failed in its duty to ensure that there was a safe system of work in place for workers using the machine.

Nottingham-based Fiskars UK Ltd. was fined £3,000 for the incident along with £2,288.10 in costs after it pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

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