A Cheshire firm which makes large steel containers has been sentenced after one of its employees lost part of a finger at a factory in Ellesmere Port.

The 55-year-old man, who has asked not to be named, was trying to remove debris from the chains under a rotating table when his hand was pulled into the mechanism.

His employer, Greif UK Ltd, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following an investigation into the incident at the factory on Oil Sites Road on 23 September 2011.

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Chester Magistrates' Court was told that the worker had been cleaning a rotating table, which holds the steel container lids in place while they are spray painted, when the glove on his right hand became caught. The incident resulted in him losing the tip of his index finger.

The court heard there were no guards under the rotating table to prevent access to the chains while they were moving. The company has since installed fencing and a gate around the machine, which causes it to stop operating if the gate is opened.

Greif UK Ltd admitted a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery. The company was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £3,699 in costs.

(CD)