A 19-year-old man severed a large part of his forearm in an incident that could have been avoided if his employer had observed health and safety guidelines.
Mr Mark Marshall was working on an assembly line at Nottingham-based Kybotech Ltd’s site in Tuxford when the incident occurred in 2013.
The role required him to move wood panels from a conveyor and apply treatment to areas of the panels that had been missed before storing them.
Mr Marshall was provided with gloves to apply the wood treatment when it was required; however, on 11th July 2013, one glove fell onto the conveyor in front of the drive mechanism and Mr Marshall’s immediate reaction was to reach for it.
As the machine was not appropriately guarded, his gloved hand was pulled into the drive mechanism.
Mr Marshall’s hand and most of his forearm was severed and, following surgery, another operation is still required, meaning that he is unable to work.
An inspection conducted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) uncovered the fact that guarding on the drive mechanism of two other conveyors on the company’s premises was also unsuitable.
Kybotech Ltd was fined £40,000 (with £1314 in costs) after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
Any manufacturing firms must ensure that they follow strict health and safety guidelines when their employees are required to handle machinery.