One of Europe's leading manufacturers of personal protective equipment has been prosecuted and fined after a worker's hand was crushed when it became trapped in an unsafe machine at their factory in Oxfordshire.

The 47-year-old employee, from Witney, had just started her shift on 11 January 2013 at the JSP Ltd factory in Minster Lovell. She was stirring the paint for a printer when the machine suddenly moved, striking her hand and trapping it.

The worker, who does not wish to be named, suffered a broken knuckle and serious nerve damage and was unable to work for several months. The nerve damage has resulted in a loss of dexterity in her right hand.

-- Advertisement --

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated and prosecuted JSP Ltd for safety failings after finding a micro switch on the interlocking sliding door guard on the printing machine had failed.

Oxford Magistrates were told that the firm had been using the machine for eight years without incident. However, the safety devices had not been checked or maintained during the whole of that time. Following the employee's injury the machine was examined and found to be unsafe.

JSP Ltd, of Worsham Mill, Minster Lovell, Oxfordshire, was fined a total of £4,000 with £1,064 in costs after admitting two breaches of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to protect employees from dangerous moving parts of machinery.

(CD)