Joinery firm gets £230k fine following serious hand injury

Avon Joinery Limited has been fined £230,000 after the finger of an employee was severed at the company base in Rugby on 3 February 2016.

Coventry Magistrates’ Court was told that the 59-year old employee was using a circular saw to cut tapered strips of wood, when his hand came into contact with the saw. The man lost the tip of his left thumb and the majority of his first finger as a result.

Supervision needed

HSE investigators found that the firm failed to provide the worker with the necessary training in order to carry out this work in a safe and appropriate manner.

Avon Joinery Limited, of Roman Way, Rugby pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9 (1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company were fined £230,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,779.70.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Neil Ward said: “Avon Joinery failed to check if its workers had received the necessary refresher training to ensure they could safely operate the machinery.

“This incident could have been prevented if the company had the required standard of supervision in place to oversee this activity.”

Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders

In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.

Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.

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