Company to be Fined after Health and Safety Case
A case for the HSE occurred in July of 2011. A 23-year-old worker lost two fingers while working at Studley company Ricor. The young man lost two fingers after a power press crushed his hand. The company stands to be fined for the breach in safety and health. According to the court hearing, the young man was removing a part off the production line when the guards closed on his right hand, trapping him in the machine.
The guards started moving the power press that caused his middle and index fingers to be crushed. They were so bad that the doctors had no choice but to remove them. His right hand was affected beyond just losing the fingers as he is unable to carry out usual tasks and he feels pain in his fingers, especially during cold weather.
Health and safety audits showed the guards that should have stopped the machine but did not because of improper maintenance. Their investigations further showed that the company did not test the power press at the time of installation in the factory less than a year earlier. A lack of proper health and safety training did not create the incident, but a failure to take proper care and precautions to ensure the machine was safe to use did. The HSE and court ruled it was unacceptable that such actions could occur in that no risk assessment was completed on a dangerous machine.
