Shropshire firm fined for near-miss hand injury

Date:

24 February 2010

Release No:

WM616/09

An Oswestry firm has today been fined after one of its employees almost lost a finger when his hand came into contact with a wood plane.

Richard Burbidge Ltd, which manufactures stair balustrades and wooden decking, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

The company, based at Whittington Road, Oswestry, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £5,842 in costs.

Kidderminster Magistrates Court heard how on 30 July 2008 an employee came into contact with the rotating rear cutters of the machine used to plane wood. As well as cutting his middle finger, the machine also fractured the employee's thumb from the top to the first joint and severed both tendons.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation revealed that the cutters were partially exposed because a guard had not been fitted and that the machine also took almost half a minute to stop.

HSE inspector Grayam Barnes said:

"This employee was extremely lucky not to lose a finger or a hand. Richard Burbidge Ltd should have ensured this piece of equipment, with sharp, fast-moving parts, had safety guards in place.

"Other issues were also identified with the machinery. The rundown time, where it slows down to a stop, was far too long at nearly half a minute, making it difficult to stop it in an emergency."

Notes to editors

1. Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states: "Every employer shall ensure that measures are taken... which are effective... to prevent access to any dangerous part of machinery or to any rotating stock-bar; or... to stop the movement of any dangerous part of machinery or rotating stock-bar before any part of a person enters a danger zone."
2. HSE information and news releases can be accessed on the internet at http://www.hse.gov.uk.

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News & PR (West Midlands)