HSE | A wooden cable drum manufacturer based in South Kirkby has been fined £24,395 after an employee’s fingers were severed in a printing machine.
A 57-year-old woman was working for Askern UK Limited at its site in South Kirkby, Pontefract on 8 March 2024 when she was able to raise the guard and easily override an interlock to run the rollers of a machine which prints logos. The employee was cleaning the rollers with a paper towel when her fingers were drawn into the nip point, leaving two of her fingers partially severed.
Investigating, the HSE found that Askern UK Limited failed to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery, namely the moving rollers of the printing machine. The investigation also found that the company had failed to adequately maintain the machine or provide employees with suitable training for the printer.
Askern UK Limited, of 28 Lidgate Crescent, Langthwaite Business Park, South Kirkby, Pontefract, WF9 3NR, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £24,395, ordered to pay £5,000 in costs with a victim surcharge of £2,000.
HSE inspector Shauna Halstead said: “This case demonstrated multiple failures by the company in respect of the printing machine.”
“An employee was tasked with cleaning the printer without provision of suitable information, instruction or training, particularly in relation to the safety devices intended to protect them.”
“A suitable interlock and employee training would have prevented this incident.”
This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Samantha Crockett, paralegal officer Benjamin Stobbart, and HSE legal team.
