A window manufacturing company based in Cheshire, has been prosecuted and fined after an employee had a finger severed by a poorly guarded rotating saw.

The twenty six year old, who has not been named, was working for East Cheshire Glass Ltd, at their plant on London Road, in Macclesfield and was attempting to position a piece of uPVC plastic under the saws rotating blade, ready for cutting.

Unfortunately the blade came into contact with his left hand and severed his index finger at the second knuckle.

Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court was told that the machine was left running in-between cuts to help speed up production, it was also noted that the blades safety guard had been adjusted in such a way, that several inches of the blade were left uncovered.

East Cheshire Glass Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations and was consequently fined £1,000 for allowing access to dangerous moving machine parts.

A spokesperson from the Health and Safety Executive stated that this type of accident was still commonplace in the manufacturing industry and added that suitable guarding of dangerous machinery was vital, in order to safeguard employees.

A female employee working at a juice bar in the Meadowhall shopping centre has been awarded compensation, after suffering an electric shock from a faulty freezer.

Thirty four year old Julie Humphries, from Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, was working for the Boost Juice Bar, inside the shopping centre near to Sheffield and suffered the electric shock when she placed her hand on top of the freezer, as she collected produce.

Mrs Humphries was off work for seven days following the accident, suffering with pains in her neck and shoulders, as well as excruciating headaches.

The Star newspaper is reporting that an investigation into the incident revealed that the branch manager was aware of the fault but had failed to inform staff of the hazard, or take any action to eliminate the danger, a mistake which led to him losing his job.

Mrs Humphries launched a claim for accident at work compensation against the Boost Juice Bar Ltd and was awarded an undisclosed amount in compensation, after the company admitted liability for the incident and agreed to settle out of court.

A spokesperson from her legal team stated that if regular tests had been carried out on the electrical equipment in the shop, the potential hazard would have been highlighted and the accident completely avoided.

A shop-fitting equipment manufacturer based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, has been fined, after an employee’s arm was crushed in a poorly guarded machine.

Thirty five year old father of two Christopher Davidson, of Siddal, in Halifax, was working for Design and Display Ltd, at their plant on the Lowfields Business Park, in Elland, when his arm was dragged into a slatwall machine, which is used for cutting and shaping large panels used in the shop-fitting industry.

Calderdale Magistrates Court heard that Mr. Davidson was a skilled operator, who had trained others how to use the slatwall machine but on the day of the accident the machine had developed a fault which required the attention of maintenance engineers.

When the engineers had fixed the fault and the machine was re-started, Mr. Davidson noticed tape on one of the machines rollers, realising this could damage the shop-fitting panel as it was passed through the machine, he tried to remove it but was dragged in between the rollers.

Mr. Davidson’s arm was pulled through a fifteen centimetre gap, from the tips of his fingers to his shoulder, causing severe crush injuries, he was hospitalised for two weeks and had to endure eight operations, he has not as yet been able to return to work and will never regain full use of his damaged right arm.

Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Design and Display Ltd, was prosecuted and fined £2,000 after pleading guilty to breaching the Provision and Use of Work Regulations.

Speaking after the court hearing a HSE inspector stated that the company had failed to ensure that the slatwall machine was adequately guarded and this had resulted in an employee suffering a permanent disability.

A Berkshire teenager suffered devastating foot injuries while operating a badly maintained mobile wood chipper.

Eighteen year old Connor Harfield, from Bracknell, who was just sixteen at the time of the accident, had been working for Calibra Tree Surgeons Ltd, for a period of just three weeks, when he lost all five toes and part of his right foot, after being dragged into the machine.

Reading Magistrates’ Court, was told that the teenager was putting brush wood into the portable chipper and to try and speed up the process had placed his right foot into the feeding chute.

Unfortunately his shoe got caught in the machines feed rollers, dragging his foot into the mechanism and into the path of the wood chippers cutting blades.

A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that the wood chipping equipment had been poorly maintained and an important safety bar was missing from the bottom of the feeding chute.

Calibra Tree Surgeons Ltd, of Bracknell, in Berkshire, was fined £7,000 with £5,973 in court costs, after admitting braches of the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations.

A Romanian labourer suffered serious personal injury, after falling from scaffolding during refurbishing work at a gym in central London.

The labourer, who has not been named, was working for MJM Fitout Ltd, of Swanley, in Kent and was part of a crew who had been instructed to remove ventilation ducting, from a two storey gymnasium based in Farringdon.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told that a scaffolding tower had been erected to facilitate the work but as the injured employee was working from it, at a height of approximately four and a half metres, it was knocked over, sending the labourer and the scaffolding tower crashing to the floor.

The Romanian national, suffered two fractured vertebrae and broke five of his ribs in the fall.

The company was prosecuted after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the accident and discovered that the temporary workers had been working without supervision, despite the fact that none of them had the necessary experience to erect a scaffolding tower.

MJM Fitout Ltd, of Azalea Drive, in Swanley, Kent, was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £3,500 in court costs after admitting a breach of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations.

An East Yorkshire delivery man has won a five figure sum in compensation, after being attacked by a Japanese fighting dog.

Fifty three year old Derek Brady, from Hull, was delivering parcels to a house in Gransmoor, close to Bridlington, however when he realised the owners were not at home, he made the decision to leave the two packages in a nearby shed.

He had noticed the Akita, which was tied up and appeared to be fairly placid, as he approached the property but as he wrote out a delivery note the dog attacked him, plunging its teeth into his calf.

Mr. Brady managed to fight the animal off and scramble back to his van, an ambulance was called and he was rushed to the Hull Royal Infirmary for emergency treatment and later to the Castle Hill Hospital for surgery and a skin graft.

He told the Hull Daily Mail newspaper that his wound was so deep that he could see bone sticking out; he is now calling for tighter controls on the Akita breed and thinks they should be added to the list of dogs included in the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Mr. Brady launched a claim for dog bite compensation against the dogs’ owners and was awarded a five figure sun in compensation, from their home insurance company.

The dog was seized by police officers and subsequently destroyed.

A South Yorkshire factory worker severed a finger tip, after her hand became trapped in a poorly guarded packing machine.

Thirty seven year old Junu Thapa, from Doncaster, was working for King Asia Foods Ltd, at their plant on the Doncaster Carr industrial estate and was attempting to clear a blockage on the machine when the accident occurred.

Doncaster Magistrates Court was told that Ms Thapa tried to clear the obstruction while the machine was still running and her hand came into contact with a moving screw conveyor.

Ms Thapa lost the tip of her ring finger in the accident and required hospital treatment; she has since found alternative employment with another company.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the accident and discovered that a safety guard, designed to prevent workers accessing dangerous moving machine parts, had been modified in such a way that it could be lifted while the machine was still operating.

King Asia Foods Ltd, of Middlebank, in Doncaster, was prosecuted by the HSE and fined £5,000 after admitting a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, they were also ordered to pay a total of £2,506 in court costs.

Speaking after the court hearing a HSE inspector stated that the hazard posed by screw conveyors was well known in the industry and yet they still remained a cause of serious personal injury to employees.

An engineer suffered serious crush injuries to his left arm, after becoming trapped in a bacon press.

Forty six year old Rui Sousa was working for Bury St Edmunds firm Orbital Foods Ltd and was re-furbishing the press for the company, who buy and sell machinery for the food processing industry.

Bury St Edmunds Magistrates’ Court, was told that the experienced engineer had over-ridden a safety device on the press and had left the air and power supply attached, when it suddenly closed, trapping his left arm in the mechanism.

Mr. Sousa suffered serious crush injuries in the accident, including deep cuts and a fracture, his injuries were so severe that he was unable to return to work for a period of four months.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident and discovered that the company had failed to carry out an adequate risk assessment of the work involved and also failed to provide a safe system of working.

Orbital Foods Ltd, of Chapel Pond Hill, in Bury St Edmunds, was fined a total of £8,000 after admitting a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act, following a successful prosecution by the HSE.

Two companies based in the North East of England have been prosecuted and fined, after an employee was struck on the head by the forks of a forklift truck.

Sixty six year old Jim McGowan, from Felling, in Gateshead, was working for MD Engineering Services (UK) Ltd and was working along with a colleague, removing machines and equipment from Hartlepool based company SAICA Pack UK Ltd.

Hartlepool Magistrates’ Court, was told that Mr. McGowan was working on a mezzanine platform and was about to attach a lifting sling to the forks of the forklift, which was being operated by his colleague, so a piece of equipment could be removed.

However as the forklift driver raised the forks, one of them got caught on the stop bracket of a gate leading to the mezzanine, unaware of this the driver continued raising the forks until the bracket sheared and forced the right hand fork of the forklift to spring upwards, striking Mr. McGowan in the head.

Mr. McGowan suffered serious head injuries in the accident, including two skull fractures and a fractured eye socket, his injuries were so severe that he has been forced to retire.

Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive SAICA Pack UK Ltd, of Eastmount Road, in Darlington was fined £13,000 and MD Engineering Services (UK) Ltd, of Houghton-le-Spring was fined £4,000 after admitting breaching health and safety regulations.

A Coventry construction worker suffered serious personal injury, after he fell a distance of almost six metres through a concealed service void.

Thirty three year old Ian Howells, a contract worker from Tile Hill, was working on the fifth floor of a construction project at Edgbaston cricket ground but as he and a colleague attempted to move a heavy floor grinder, he stepped onto a polythene covered pallet, which had been placed on top of scaffolding to prevent rain coming in through a service void.

Unfortunately the wooden pallet collapsed under his weight and he was sent plummeting almost six metres to the floor beneath.

Mr. Howells suffered life changing injuries in the fall, including a punctured lung and a fractured pelvis; he also shattered all of the bones in his left hand and broke all of the ribs on his left hand side.

The incident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who discovered that the two principal contractors on the project, Parkstone Group Limited and Galliford Try Construction Limited, had not provided any information to staff on site about the dangers posed by covered voids, nor had any warning signs been affixed to the void to highlight the potential risk.

Both companies admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and both were fined £13,500 each, following a successful prosecution by the HSE at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.