Manufacturer fined after worker suffered serious damage to his hand

A tissue manufacturer has been fined £60,000 and pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 etc. after a worker injured his hand unblocking a machine.

The worker was a machine operator and reached into a machine to ‘jog’ it once it had become blocked during the manufacturing process. Whilst his hand was in the machine it became trapped in a roller causing him to sustain crush injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that tissue blockages were a regular occurrence and that the company had done nothing to address this following review of their risk assessment in 2021. The company had no safe system of work in place for unblocking the machine and employees lacked sufficient training and instruction.

Businesses should ensure that they have risk assessments and safe systems of work for all operations. The HSE will prosecute for such failings and ensuring that these internal safety procedures are followed and complied with will prevent future incidents and demonstrate to the HSE that steps are being taken to ensure workplace safety.