A Keighley firm has been fined £15,000 for a serious safety breach after a worker severed three fingers in a machine with rotating spikes.
The 26 year-old employee lost two fingers completely and a third just below the knuckle on his dominant hand while working on a carding machine at JTS Cushions, in Gresley Road, on 29 June 2011.
On 24 May, Bradford Magistrates' Court heard that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident and found the company was aware that a timed safety mechanism over ran on the machine, yet failed to fix it.
JTS Cushions, of Gresley Road, Keighley, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to properly address the timer delay issue, and for allowing access to dangerous moving parts as a result. The firm was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £2,972 in costs.