An Oldham tissue manufacturer has been fined £10,000 after an employee sliced the top of his fingers off due to faulty machinery.
The incident happened on May 17 last year at Rose Tissues Ltd in Hollinwood, where kitchen roll and toilet paper are printed.
A 35-year-old employee was cleaning a machine when his cloth got stuck and his hand was dragged between two rotating rollers.
The man spent four days in hospital undergoing surgery on his hand, but lost the tops of two fingers.
Health and Safety Executive Inspector Stuart Kitchingman stressed: “An employee has suffered an injury to his hand that will affect him for the rest of his life.”
An HSE investigation revealed safety guards had been removed from the machine over a year earlier – they were later discovered in a storage container.
Mr Kitchingman condemned the firm for deliberately over-riding safety features, causing the machine to carry on running.
He said: “Guards were fitted to the machine for a reason and there’s simply no excuse for two of them to be missing for over a year.”
Speaking after the hearing at Trafford Magistrates’ Court, he said the incident in question is a well-known risk in the printing industry.
Rose Tissues Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
In addition to a £10,000 fine, they were ordered to pay £8,000 in prosecution costs to the HSE.
Image courtesy of Nolene Dowdall via Flickr, with thanks.
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