Personal injury news
19/01/2012

HSE prosecutes door company for accident at work

A door manufacturing company has been fined after an employee sustained severe personal injury in an accident at work.

The 37-year-old worker from Derbyshire had been helping to unload doors from a newly installed door press at the company's factory when the work accident took place.

The employee operating the machine could not see his colleague who had been standing at the rear of the press and as a result the man's hand became trapped in the mechanism whilst he worked.

The factory worker was taken to hospital where he lost part of three of his fingers. His injuries were so severe he has been unable to return to work.

Following a successful Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution at Derby Crown Court, the company admitted to a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations and was fined £25,000 plus £23,154 in court costs.

An HSE inspector stated after the hearing that the accident at work could have been avoided had the company put preventative measures in place.