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Safety and Health Practitioner (SHP) is first for independent health and safety news.
June 3, 2014

Londonderry company in court after man’s hand is severed at work

The managing director of a Londonderry timber company has pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety regulations after a maintenance fitter had his left hand severed in a sawing machine.

The 22-year-old had worked for Eglington Timber Products Ltd, Longfield Industrial Estate, for seven weeks when the incident occurred on 25 July 2013. Due to the extent of his injuries, the lower part of his left arm had to be surgically removed and he now wears a prosthetic left hand.

It was heard in Londonderry Crown Court that he had been ordered to service a multi-layered sawing machine and to remove four nuts while the machine was still running, after a fault had developed in the machine’s alignment. His left arm got caught in the machine and his left hand was severed.

Eleven months before the accident, the health and safety inspectorate wrote to the company regarding safety access to the same machine.

A defence barrister for Norman Blair, the company’s managing director, said the accident “simply should not have happened”.

Adding that Mr Blair expressed his sympathies for what happened and still had such regard for his injured employee.

In mitigation, since the accident, the company has replaced the machine and another similar machine at the cost of £60,000 and has spent £122,000 updating its health and safety procedures.

Sentencing is expected this month.

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