Firm fined over worker's fingers

An engineering firm was fined £10,000 for safety breaches after a contractor lost four fingers and part of his thumb carrying out asphalt flooring work.

Stephen Beare got his hand entangled in an asphalt mixer at a site in Southampton on 24 February 2006.

Tex Engineering Ltd, of Suffolk, the manufacturer and supplier of the mixer, pleaded guilty to breaching the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act.

It was ordered to pay £14,884 costs at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court.

This was an entirely preventable incident that has left Mr Beare with serious life-long injuries The Health and Safety Executive

The court heard Mr Beare was a self-employed contractor working for Botley Roofing Ltd, which had been appointed for the flooring work.

Tex Engineering Ltd manufactured the Warrior 25cwt asphalt mixer, which was being used for the job.

On the day of the incident the court heard Mr Beare went to check the temperature inside the machine to ensure the asphalt remained at the correct consistency.

As he looked into the mixer, he knocked a wooden batten - used to prop the lids open - into the machine and "instinctively" reached into it to retrieve the batten, the court heard.

But his hand became trapped between the moving agitator and the inner side of the mixer.

The court heard Mr Beare was unable to free his hand until his fingers and part of his thumb were severed.

His glove, which contained the severed digits, fell into the molten asphalt.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation discovered this accident was the second one to occur with this type of machine.

In 2001, a worker in Seaford, East Sussex, lost his hand in an asphalt mixer in very similar circumstances.

HSE Inspector James Powell said: "This was an entirely preventable incident that has left Mr Beare with serious life-long injuries.

"Tex Engineering Ltd did not adequately heed the warning from the first accident in 2001."

 Source: BBC News follow link:  Firm fined over worker's fingers