Factory fined £10,000 over finger-slice horror

AN OLDHAM factory has been fined £10,000 after a member of staff had the tops of two fingers sliced off.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Ribble Packaging Ltd, which produces corrugated cardboard, following the incident at its Greengate Street site in July, 2008.

The company was charged after breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 by failing to ensure the safety of its employees. The firm admitted the offence at Trafford Magistrates’ Court and was fined £10,000 with £2,769 costs. The worker lost the top of his index and middle fingers on his left hand on a cutting wheel.

He had been trying to remove waste cardboard when the incident happened.

The HSE found that an automatic safety switch, which should have stopped the machine when the access gate was opened, had not been working. This meant the wheel continued to rotate when staff were close to it.

Factory owners are now being urged to make sure they have good safety procedures in place to stop another incident from happening.

HSE inspector Richard Clarke said: “Safety switches are there for a reason.

“If they’re not functioning properly then employers are putting their staff at risk of serious injury.

“In this case the switch, which would have prevented the incident from happening, was not working and had not been repaired.

“As a result, an employee got too close to the cutting wheel when it was moving and lost the tops of two fingers.

“The factory’s owners should have made sure that the machine was turned off and the wheel had stopped turning, before any attempt was made to remove waste materials.

“I hope this incident will help to remind people that factories can be dangerous places, and that it’s vital that health and safety procedures are followed.”