Man severs thumb in saw accident
18/08/2011
A man working for a Lincolnshire timber company suffered an industrial injury while cutting insulation foam with a circular saw.
The 20-year-old worker could not work for Kestrel Timber Frame for seven weeks following the accident in which he severed part of his left thumb at the company's site at Northfield Road, Market Deeping.
Spalding Magistrates heard that the production operative had been using a table-mounted circular saw when he got his hand caught in the blade. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that it had become standard practice by employees to remove the guard of the saw as its height adjustment mechanism was broken.
Furthermore, it was revealed that the table saw was not of a sufficient size to support the foam being cut and so he had to support the foam with hands as opposed to using a push-stick.
Bourne-based Kestrel Timber Frame was fined £6,700 and ordered to pay costs of £4,117 after pleading guilty to breaching health and safety regulations.
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