The bosses of a Lancashire pine furniture business have each been fined £6,000 after an employee was seriously injured twice in less than two months.
Kenneth Bramhall and Gill Brown, who run Village Pine in Bacup, pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations at Burnley court. In addition to the fine they were ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to the employee and £2,000 each towards prosecution costs.
The 21-year-old worker was cutting a small groove into a pine door in July last year when it shot out of the machine, forcing his left hand onto a rotating blade, causing his index finger to be badly cut, removing most of the nail and breaking the bone.
The court heard that similar injuries had been suffered by the employee in an earlier accident with a circular saw.
The Health & Safety Executive had issued seven enforcement notices following the first accident, with the company required to make workshop improvements and work on the unguarded and unsafe saw to be stopped completely.
HSE inspector Michael Mullen said the employee had now left the joinery profession as a result of his injuries.
“A simple jig should have been used to handle the wood, keeping the operator’s hands away from the blade. Blocks of wood should also have been fitted to the front and back of the machine to deflect the wood if it shot out.”
