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Health and Safety News

Occupational health and safety news and guidance

Blog posts : "guarding"

Burnley bakery fined after worker loses fingertips in pasty machine

Photo shows the pasty-making machine which caused the workers injuries

A Burnley bakery has appeared in court after an employee had the tips of two fingers chopped off by a pasty-making machine.

On 20 February, Tayyabah Bakery Ltd. was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found part of a metal guard had been deliberately removed…

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Waste industry dangers highlighted in court

Metal fragmentiser

A Lincoln man suffered life-changing injuries because of a series of safety failings at the waste recycling plant where he worked in Scunthorpe, a court has heard.

The 25 year-old worker had his arm severed when he tried to clear a blockage on a conveyor forming part of a metal sorting line. The …

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Balfour Beatty fined after worker suffers severe injuries

The conveyor which caused Mr Hawleys injuries

A major rail infrastructure company has been fined after a man suffered serious hand injuries in two separate incidents less than a year apart.

On 12 May 2009 Keith Hawley, 64, of Chaddesdon, Derby, was manoeuvring a large piece of rail track into a press at Balfour Beatty Rail Track Systems Ltd.…

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Brick firm fined after worker loses thumb

The brick pressing machine which caused the workers injuries

A West Yorkshire brick making firm has been prosecuted after safety failings at its factory led to a worker losing a thumb and having his hand almost severed in a poorly-guarded press machine.

The 60 year-old man was taken to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield after the incident at Normanton Bric…

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Guarding failures left pensioner with life-threatening injuries at wood yard

The log splitter which caused Mr Fryetts injuriesA 73-year-old worker at a Norfolk wood yard was left with life-threatening and life-changing injuries that could have been prevented had the log splitter he was using been better configured and guarded, a court has heard.

Basil Fryett, of Great Massingham, King's Lynn, has spent almost six months i…

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Gloucestershire paper company fined for safety failings

The rollers which caused the workers injuriesA Gloucestershire paper producer has been fined after an employee's hand was crushed in an unguarded machine as he tried to clean it.

The 43 year-old worker received a serious crushing injury, cuts and bruising to his right hand when it was drawn between the rollers of a paper coating machine at Co…

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Leigh cardboard company in court over crush injuries

A Leigh cardboard box manufacturer has appeared in court after one of its employees almost lost his right arm when it became trapped in a machine.

The 26-year-old from Leigh was trying to retrieve a piece of card to clear a blockage when his arm was dragged under a roller, causing severe cr…

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Yorkshire ice cream maker in court

A North Yorkshire ice cream manufacturer has been sentenced after a factory worker had his forearm broken when it got caught in a conveyor belt.

Sam Goodall, 20, of Northallerton, was working on the ice cream production line at R&R Ice Cream Ltd., in Leeming Bar, when his glove got caught a…

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Severed finger leads to prosecution of food manufacturer

A Herefordshire food manufacturer has been fined after an employee severed her finger in an inadequately guarded machine.

Ewalina Giedziun, aged 29, from Hereford, sustained the injury while working on a suet packing line at Q Cold Limited's Ledbury site on 17 October last year.

The tip of her…

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Company fined after worker suffers horrific head injuries

A West Midlands company has been fined after a worker suffered severe head injuries in a pneumatic metal press.

Wayne Hill, a maintenance engineer at H&E Knowles (Lye) Limited, was repairing the press when it unexpectedly started working and crushed his head. He was trapped for around ten minut…

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Safety failings led to farm worker's injury

A Lincolnshire farmer and an agricultural machinery supplier have been fined after a young casual worker had three tendons in his right hand severed by a potato crusher.

The 25 year-old man, who does not wish to be named, had been working for farmer Timothy Dean, 55, at Waterloo Farm, Wilsfor…

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Crumlin firm fined after worker lost finger in recycling machinery

A worker lost a finger when it was crushed in machinery as safety procedures were ignored at a recycling centre in Wales.

GLJ Recycling Ltd. appeared before Caerphilly Magistrates Court in a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and were fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £5…

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Hull firm in court over worker's injury

A Hull company has been fined for safety breaches after a worker suffered severe injuries to his hand when it was trapped in a badly-guarded laminating machine.

Agency worker Steven Spencer, 36, had his left hand drawn into the rollers at Excel Laminating Ltd., on Leads Road, as he was feedin…

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Coventry firm fined after worker hurt on unguarded machinery

A Coventry engineering firm has been fined after an employee was injured on an unguarded machine.

The employee was making a cut in a component on a horizontal borer at MNB Precision Ltd. on 20 May 2011 but as he reached over to check the cut, his sleeve came into contact with the rotating par…

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Norfolk manufacturer prosecuted for guarding failure

A manufacturer of steel building materials has been fined for safety failings after an employee sustained a serious hand injury on a poorly guarded machine in Norfolk.

Antonio Pires, aged 63, from Watton, was operating a power press to form sheet metal at Worldwide Steels Limited, trading as …

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Preston steel firm in court over employee's drilling injuries

A Preston steel firm has been sentenced after one of its employees suffered serious internal injuries when he became trapped in an industrial drilling machine.

Joseph Spencer narrowly avoided being paralysed when a rotating drill passed through his overalls and jeans, and became lodged close …

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Liverpool rubber firm sentenced over burn injury

A Liverpool rubber manufacturer has been fined for safety failings after an employee seriously injured his hand when it became trapped in machinery.

Robert Devonport was left with a severe burn to his left hand and a crush injury to his thumb as a result of the incident at Ley Rubber Ltd.'s…

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Southampton worker pays price for firm's safety failings

A Romsey brick-making firm has been prosecuted after one of its employees suffered crush injuries to his leg in a poorly-guarded machine.

Mr Nikoloz Demetrashvili, 42, was in hospital for three weeks with a multiple fracture of his right leg after the incident at Michelmersh Brick and Tile …

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Recycling firm fined after worker breaks arm

A Birmingham metal recycling company has been prosecuted after a worker trapped and broke his arm in an unguarded conveyor belt.

The 28 year-old man, from Blackheath, employed as a recycler, was attempting to retrieve a piece of scrap metal that had got stuck in the conveyor at Hawkeswood Metal…

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Stockport firm in court after employee severs fingers

The machine which caused the workers injuriesA Stockport engineering firm has been prosecuted after one of its employees lost four fingers on his left hand when they were crushed in machinery.

The 62-year-old from Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire had been using a power press to cut electrical components from a thin strip of steel when his ha…

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20 Blog Posts