Plastics firm fined over employee’s finger injury 27 November 2012

Industrial Anti Corrosives, in Dunnockshaw, has been fined £5,000 plus £3,991 costs, after one of its employees narrowly avoided severing his fingers when his hand came into contact with a rotating blade.

The firm, which trades as IAC Plastics, admitted that it had carried out a risk assessment in 2007, where it identified the need to fit guards on several machines, but had failed to act.

The machines were also left unguarded for two months after the incident, until HSE inspectors served the company with three prohibition notices requiring guards to be fitted.

Industrial Anti-Corrosives pleaded guilty to a breach of PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998) by failing to prevent access to dangerous machine parts.

"The employee was lucky not to have lost several fingers when his hand came into contact with the rotating cutting tool," comments HSE Inspector David Myrtle.

"There was simply no point in the company carrying out a risk assessment four years earlier, if it wasn't going to act on the findings. The firm knew the machines needed to have guards fitted but did nothing about it," he continues.

"We investigate several incidents every year where workers lose fingers in machinery. It's only by chance that the worker wasn't more seriously injured in this case."

Latest HSE figures shows 28 people died while working in manufacturing in Great Britain in 2010/11 and there were more than 3,800 major injuries.

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Health & Safety Executive

This material is protected by MA Business copyright
See Terms and Conditions.
One-off usage is permitted but bulk copying is not.
For multiple copies contact the sales team.