HSE | A manufacturing company has been fined £20,000 after a worker lost part of his finger in machinery at its site in St Helens.
The man was injured at Film and Foil Solutions Ltd, which makes flexible film used in the food industry, on 4 December 2023. He was using a machine that converts and folds plastic film at the company’s site on Haydock Industrial Estate. He tried to stop the material becoming tangled by using his hand to stop the poorly guarded rotating shaft. However, in doing so, his right index finger made contact with a rotating part of the machine and became entangled.
He was taken to hospital and due to the seriousness of the injuries, surgery was carried out the following day to amputate part of the finger on his dominant right hand.
An investigation by the HSE found that Film and Foil Solutions Ltd failed to protect its employees, including ensuring the machinery being used to produce it had suitable guarding. The company had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, resulting in a failure to provide suitable guarding arrangements on the machine and had failed to put in place an adequate safe system of work. It also revealed inconsistencies and inadequacies in the provision of information, instruction and training for those required to use the machine.
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