The accident happened at the Dalbeattie mill of Howie Forest Products, now part of the BSW Timber group, in 2010.
A worker on a wood-stacking machine reached over a safety fence to pick up banding strips to tie the planks together. A machine arm, which lowers planks into position, pinned his right arm against the fence.
The base block then hit his arm, breaking his elbow. The staff member needed surgery and was off work for four months.
A Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found a practice had developed where pre-cut banding strips were hung through the safety fence, putting workers at risk.
Similar, newer machines at the mill are safeguarded by light beam grids that cut the machine out if operators break the beam.
The HSE said the company had failed to prevent storage of banding strips on the fence where they could fall through and lead to injury to anyone attempting to retrieve them.
“Higher standards of protection on recent machines had been installed since October 2007 and at that point Howie Forest Products should have been aware that the safety measures on this stacking unit were inadequate,” said HSE inspector Russell Berry.
