The owner of a Bristol lighting company has today been fined £20,000 after an employee was injured by machinery that was not properly guarded.
The owner pleaded guilty to regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 at Weston-super-Mare Magistrates Court. He was also ordered to pay costs of £1,800.
The employee sustained minor head injuries on 5 February 2010, after going into the working area of the machine to remove a finished work piece and inadvertently hitting his head on the cutter which was still rotating at full speed.
A HSE Inspector said:
"Fortunately, the employee’s injuries were fairly minor, but the cutter on which he hit his head was rotating at 18,000rpm and he could have been very seriously injured or even killed.
"It is vital that dangerous machinery is properly safeguarded. In this case, the cutting area should have been enclosed with doors that were linked to the operation of the machine to prevent anybody going into the danger area while the machine was running. People can help prevent similar incidents by checking machinery safeguards regularly, to make sure that they are still working correctly."