Printing firm fined over accident
11/08/2011
A printing company has been fined £7,500 after a worker had his hand mutilated by the machine he was working on.
John Stagg, a print manager, needed plastic surgery after the accident which saw him lose his middle finger to the first joint and the nail and part of his ring finger. He also suffered a fracture to his index finger in the incident on September 10 last year, and was off work for seven months.
Mr Stagg had been employed by the firm on the Hadleigh Road Industrial Estate, Ipswich, for 20 years when the accident happened.
Ipswich Magistrates' Court was told Mr Stagg, 40, got his right hand caught while trying to clear a blockage from beneath a stacking machine's conveyor belt.
A fixed guard would have prevented Mr Stagg from reaching the toothed cogs of the machine, but that had been removed, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who also found 20 other safety devices had been disabled around the factory.
Ancient House Press, of 8 Whittle Road, admitted breaching regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations. The company was also ordered to pay £8,272 costs, on top of the £7,500 fine.
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