A Scottish engineering firm has been fined after a worker lost two of his fingers in an accident involving a rotary fan.
The worker, employed by Edwards Engineering Limited in Perth, had been carrying out maintenance work on a grain dryer at the East of Scotland Farmers facility on 28 June 2020 when the incident occurred.
The fan was rotating at 1,200 revolutions per minute when the worker inadvertently placed his hand onto the blades of the unguarded machine. It resulted in the worker’s little and ring fingers being amputated and him being off work for seven weeks.
The HSE’s investigation into the incident found Edwards Engineering Limited failed to risk assess the task.
The investigation found there was no risk assessment undertaken on the day of the incident nor any safe working procedure.
Principal inspector at the HSE Fiona MacNeill said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply following a safe working procedure which would have prevented access to dangerous moving parts.
The firm pleaded guilty to breaching work health and safety regulations and was fined £10,000 at Perth Sheriff Court on 16 February.