Notts company fined after worker loses finger ends 14 November 2012

A Nottingham firm that provides processing support for the brewing and food industries has been prosecuted for safety failures, after a worker lost four finger ends on a poorly guarded machine.

Albert McEvoy, 53, from Nottingham, lost the tips of the fingers on his right hand in the incident at Murphy & Sons, of Old Basford, on 9 March 2011.

Nottingham Magistrates' Court heard that he tried to feed clogged powder back into an industrial mixer through a discharge tube but his fingers struck the rotating blades.

McEvoy lost the tips of his index and little fingers above the first knuckle, and the ends of his middle and ring fingers just below the first knuckle. He was off work for several months and, although he has since returned, he now struggles with everyday tasks and pain.

An investigation by the HSE found there was no guard on the mixer to prevent access to dangerous moving parts via the discharge tube. Had a suitable guard been fitted, the incident would have been prevented.

Murphy & Sons was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £7,674 in costs, after pleading guilty to a single breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

"The risk was entirely foreseeable, but no one at the company had the foresight to consider the mixer was inadequately guarded," comments HSE inspector Jayne Towey.

"This was despite the fact that clear industry guidance is readily available and the fact that a large number of workers are injured on poorly guarded machines every year."

HSE statistics show that in 2010/11 alone more than 550 people were seriously injured in the manufacturing and processing sector, after coming into contact with moving machinery or material being machined. A substantial number of these injuries relate to guarding failures.

Brian Tinham

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Health & Safety Executive

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