A steel manufacturing company has been prosecuted after a worker's hand was crushed by machinery.

Rom Ltd of Castle Works, East Moors Road, Cardiff pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11 Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. It has been fined £200,000 with over £17,200 in costs.

North Staffordshire Justice Centre heard how the 51-year-old victim was removing leftover steel from a machine called the Koch Straightener, which is used for straightening steel wire, at the company's site in Lichfield, Staffordshire on 23 October 2015.


However, his hand became trapped between the rotating rollers inside the machine, resulting in severe crush injuries. As a result, the man lost the top of his right index finger.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the company failed to identify the risks associated with workers manually operating this machine, while no steps were taken to ensure the machine was correctly guarded.

In addition, Rom Ltd failed to provide the required level of supervision to this activity and as a result led to the worker suffering these injuries.

HSE inspector David Keane said: "This man suffered a life-changing injury. The company failed to protect the worker from harm by not properly considering the risks associated with manually operating dangerous machinery such as this."

(LM)