Ineos Enterprises Ltd. has been prosecuted for ignoring basic safety guidelines after a maintenance worker seriously injured his right hand at a Runcorn factory.
The 58-year-old worker lost his ring finger and suffered damage to his middle and little finger after his gloved hand was pulled into machinery.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reports that Ineos failed to follow health and safety guidance which advises against wearing gloves when using metalworking lathes. Instead, it introduced a new policy on 1 May 2010 making wearing protective gloves mandatory for most workers on the site - the injured worker was reminded to wear his gloves by his line manager on the morning of the incident.
The company, which has sites in the UK, France, Germany and Thailand, admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 - failing to ensure the safety of workers, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £6,607 towards the cost of the prosecution on 4 July 2011.