Moreton company fined after worker's hand crushed (From Cotswold Journal)

Moreton-in-Marsh Cotek Papers Ltd HSE Cheltenham Magistrates Court

5:39pm Tuesday 22nd January 2013 in News

A COMPANY from Moreton has been fined after an employee’s hand was crushed as he tried to clean a piece of machinery.

The 43-year-old man, who does to wish to be named, received a serious crushing injury along with cuts and bruising to his right hand when it was drawn between the rollers of a paper coating machine on April 2 last year.

He was unable to return to work for two months.

Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), his employers, paper producer Cotek Papers Ltd, was found to have placed workers in unnecessary danger.

Cheltenham Magistrates Court heard yesterday the rollers had to be cleaned frequently, sometimes several times a day, and that fixed guards attached to them had to be removed for cleaning to take place.

The Moreton-based company admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £1,483 in costs.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Ann Linden an alternative system for cleaning the rollers should have been in place so workers were not exposed to dangerous moving parts.

“Cotek Papers Ltd clearly failed to ensure the safety of its employees, with painful consequences for the injured worker,” she said.

“The law clearly states that employers should take all reasonably practicable steps to protect employees from harm arising from their work. “In the case of machinery, moving parts that could cause injury should be guarded or made safe so that people cannot come into contact with them.

“Non-routine operations such as cleaning or maintenance are not exempt from this requirement.”