A man had his hand ripped off by a sheet metal lathe in a
work accident in County Durham, a court has been told.
Surgeons stitched the 55-year-old worker's hand back on but he
still has no feeling in it and is unable to use it. The man has had
five operations since the accident in June 2009 and at the time was
kept in hospital for five weeks. He still cannot work.
Magistrates were told that the accident happened at a factory
operated by Conder Solutions Limited in Peterlee's South West
Industrial Estate.
Conder, which admitted breaking health and safety laws, was
handed a fine of £15,000 and was ordered to pay prosecution costs
of £2,759.
The Health and Safety Executive brought the firm to court, where
Peterlee magistrates heard that the worker was wearing safety
gloves while holding a piece of emery cloth with both hands and was
polishing a rotating metal shaft. His right hand was ripped off
when it touched the shaft and the lathe's cutting tool.
After the court case HSE inspector Cain Mitchell said: "This
employee suffered an extremely painful and possibly life-changing
injury because Conder Solutions Limited failed to take measures to
prevent access to dangerous parts of the lathe and to ensure a safe
system of work was being used."