A forging firm has been fined after a worker had to have fingers and a thumb amputated following an incident while he was operating a press at its Stourbridge site.
Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court heard that on 25 June 2018 a forger at Brooks Forgings Limited had his left hand crushed between dies and moving parts on a press. Following hospital treatment his thumb, index finger and part of his middle finger had to be amputated.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had failed to ensure that effective measures were taken to prevent access to the dangerous parts, namely gripping dies and heading tool of the Samuel Platt Upset Forging Press.
Brooks Forgings Limited of Doulton Road, Cradley Heath, West Midlands pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company has been fined £1,500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,511.11.
Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Karen Sweeney said. “The installation of simple guarding mechanisms and a system of ensuring a safe system of work was in place would have prevented the forger from losing significant parts of his hand.
“Employers should make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to eliminate or minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery”.
Notes to Editors:
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. www.hse.gov.uk
- More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/
- HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk
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