Manufacturer fined £45k following severed fingers incident

Laminated Products Limited, a decorative panel manufacturing company, has been fined after a worker was injured when using an industrial saw.

On 29 March 2016, an employee of the company was working alongside colleagues using a beam saw to cut sheets of MDF. When he reached into a hole in the fixed guarding, which he believed was a viewing hole, to clear waste offcuts, his fingers became trapped under a drive chain and sprocket. As he pulled his hand out, three fingers were severed.

The HSE found that that, while suitable guarding was in place on other areas of the machine, the company had failed to identify the hazard posed by the open hole where access to the dangerous moving parts was possible.

Laminated Products Limited of Hunt Street, Whitwood Mere, Castleford was found guilty of breaching Regulation 11 (1) of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £45,225 and ordered to pay costs of £1,612.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Louise Redgrove said: “A worker was left with permanent injuries as a result of this incident. [These] injuries could have very easily been avoided, had the hole been covered with a fixed plate.”

Get Your Free Ticket to Jonny Wilkinson's Talk at Safety & Health Expo 2019

Arguably one of the best-known rugby players in the world, Jonny Wilkinson CBE famously kicked the drop goal that won England the 2003 World Cup with just seconds left in the final. Much of Jonny’s success on the field, however, took its psychological toll. Jonny has dealt with depression, anxiety and panic attacks. In his honest, unguarded speech, entitled ‘Success on the field and mental health: a personal account of understanding what matters’, Jonny will recount how his focus and dedication to the sport he loves meant overlooking important parts of his life.