Southport shopfitter's finger severed in rotating saw

Date:

14 June 2011

Release No:

HSE/NW/28Mentha

A Southport-based shopfitting firm has been sentenced after one of its employees' fingers was severed in a rotating saw.

Mentha and Halsall Shopfitters Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at its factory on Linaker Street in the town on 15 April 2010.

The saw which caused Darren Mawdsley's injuries

Darren Mawdsley was trimming oak planks when a piece of wood caught on the blade of the circular saw, pulling his index finger into the machine. The 37-year-old from Southport was taken to hospital and his finger was amputated at the knuckle the following day.

North Sefton Magistrates' Court in Southport was told the guard for the saw was resting on a table at the side of the machine when the worker's finger was severed.

The HSE investigation found the company had carried out a risk assessment for the saw but this had not been passed on to its employees. The injured worker had never been given any training by the company on using the saw, and no warning signs were on the machine.

Mentha and Halsall Shopfitters Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to provide adequate instructions for using the saw. It was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £3,498 in prosecution costs on 14 June 2011.

Speaking after the hearing, the investigating inspector at HSE, Phil Redman, said:

"These kinds of incidents are all too common in the manufacturing industry and sadly result in workers suffering life-long injuries.

"Good health and safety isn't about filling in forms. It was pointless for the company to carry out a risk assessment if they weren't going to pass it on to their staff.

"No instructions or training were provided to Mr Mawdsley on how to use the saw safely, and supervision in the workshop appeared to be minimal. If the shopfitting company had done more to protect the safety of its employees then one of them wouldn't have lost a finger."

More than 3.2 million people are employed in the manufacturing industry in Great Britain. Last year, 25 workers lost their lives and there were more than 4,000 major injuries in the sector. Details on preventing injuries are available at www.hse.gov.uk/manufacturing.

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Regulation 8(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states: "Every employer shall ensure that all persons who use work equipment have available to them adequate health and safety information and, where appropriate, written instructions pertaining to the use of the work equipment."

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