A manufacturing firm has been fined £20,000 after a worker’s hand was partially severed when it was caught in machinery. The man suffered the horrific injury after he slipped and fell while operating the machine at ADA Machining Services Ltd, in Ashton-under-Lyne.
The employee was operating a boring machine when he lost his balance on March 24, 2021. As he attempted to steady himself, his hand caught in the machine.
He suffered a partially severed hand and remains unable to work. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found there was inadequate protection to prevent access to dangerous parts of the machinery and an inadequate risk assessment for operating it.
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It was also custom and practice to walk on the rotating machine table, which is what the worker was doing at the time of the incident, investigators said.
The firm, based in Richmond Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £20,000. It was also ordered to pay £4,952 costs during the hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on September 20.
It was not the first time that ADA Machining Services Ltd has come under scrutiny from the HSE. The company previously pleaded guilty to breaching the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulation 11(1) in May 2010 after an accident on a similar machine.
HSE says it provided guidance to the company so it "had been aware of the risks for a number of years" and should have taken action to prevent a second accident.
HSE inspector Lorna Sherlock said after the case: “This injury was easily prevented, and the risk should have been identified and eliminated when the company were given advice on guarding this machine by HSE 11 years ago. Employers should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery.”
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