Equipment manufacturer fined after worker’s fingers severed

Derek Parnaby Cyclones International Ltd fined £10,500 after contractor loses three fingers in bandsaw incident

DEREK Parnaby Cyclones International Ltd, manufacturers and installers of mineral-processing and effluent-treatment systems and equipment, have been fined a total of £10,500 after a worker had three fingers severed while using a bandsaw.

On 22 April 2010, John Houston was working as a contractor at the company’s head office in Chilton, Co. Durham, where he was using a horizontal metal-cutting bandsaw to cut pieces of steel to make a frame. There was no safety guard in place and his left hand came into contact with the moving blade, severing three of his fingers.

Darlington Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr Houston had to undergo 10h of surgery as doctors attempted, unsuccessfully, to re-attach one of his fingers. He was in hospital for a week.

Mr Houston had been managing director of his own company, AJL Safenet Ltd, which manufactured and installed metal flooring, and had been working as a contractor for Derek Parnaby Cyclones International during quiet periods. AJL Safenet Ltd has now ceased trading as Mr Houston has been unable to return to work.

The court was told that Derek Parnaby Cyclones International had also allowed their employees to operate another horizontal metal-cutting bandsaw without the required adjustable blade guard, despite having been given advice from HSE inspectors in 2008 on what safeguards were required when using such equipment.

Derek Parnaby Cyclones International Ltd were fined  £7,000 and £3,500, respectively, after pleading guilty to breaching both Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 11(1)(a) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was also ordered to pay £3,266.60 in costs.

After the case, HSE Inspector Cain Mitchell, said: ‘This was an entirely avoidable incident which resulted in Mr Houston suffering a life-changing injury to his hand and has led to his own company going out of business. The bandsaw should not have been used without the correct guarding to prevent access to the moving blade.

‘In this case, the bandsaw used by Mr Houston had been in use without a suitable guard for some months while a second saw had been identified by HSE inspectors as having no guard in place some two years earlier. However, despite this warning, the company failed to take any action putting its workers at risk of injury.’