A Preston steel firm has been sentenced after one of its employees suffered serious internal injuries when he became trapped in an industrial drilling machine.

Joseph Spencer narrowly avoided being paralysed when a rotating drill passed through his overalls and jeans, and became lodged close to his spine.

The 45-year-old sustained long-term injuries including a split bowel, twisted pelvis and nerve damage to his right hand. He is also being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

His employer, Leach Structural Steel Work Ltd, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at its factory on Garstang Road in Claughton on Brock on 29 November 2010.

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Preston Crown Court heard that Mr Spencer had noticed that coolant was not properly feeding onto the drills on a machine which drills holes in steel beams used in frames for new buildings.

As he positioned himself between the drill and one of the beams to try and fix the problem, the drill moved forwards causing him to become trapped. He was unable to reach the emergency stop button and a colleague eventually stopped the machine after hearing his screams.

A HSE investigation found Mr Spencer had been able to gain access to the machine through a loosened fence panel, which was regularly used as a gate by workers at the factory.

This meant they avoided passing photoelectric light guards that automatically stopped the machine when someone walked through them. The court was told there had previously been problems restarting the machine after the light guards had been activated, and so workers avoided passing them.

Leach Structural Steel Work Ltd pleaded guilty to 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 £20,000 and ordered to pay £12,500 towards the cost of the prosecution.

(CD)