A fencing manufacturer has been fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £2,645 court costs after one of its workers lost a finger in an unguarded circular saw.
The Fence Factory Ltd, based in Cresswell, was fined at Stafford Magistrates’ Court after it pleaded guilty of breaching S3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The case, brought by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), followed an incident at the factory on May 21, 2007, when an agency worker suffered the loss of his index finger and damage to his little finger while using an unguarded circular saw to cut lengths of timber.
“Allowing machines to be operated without suitable and appropriate guards is ignoring basic safety principles, an act which cannot go unpunished,” said HSE investigating inspector Wayne Owen.
He said a high-speed revolving blade was an “obvious risk” and extra care and training had to be taken to ensure operator safety.
The HSE found the company had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the machine that should have identified the need for guarding. Adequate training should also have been given.
