Manufacturing company fined after accident led to finger amputation

Posted 23/03/2010

A Suffolk company has been fined for the health and safety failings which led to the amputation of an employee’s finger.

HE & BS Benson Ltd was fined £8,000 after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 following an accident at the company’s Newmarket factory in November 2008.

Press operator Peter McCormick had his right index finger crushed after it became trapped between the two halves of a metalworking power press when he leaned across it to reach for a component.

His injury was so severe that doctors decided amputation between the first and second joints was the only option.

The Health and Safety Executive decided to prosecute the solenoid manufacturer because the accident would not have happened if it had fitted the correct protective guards to its machinery.

Meanwhile, a second Suffolk company has been fined £8,000 after admitting to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Seed producer W A Church Ltd found itself in court after one of its workers suffered a spinal injury and a fractured skull when he fell from a ramp.