In an incident on 5 December 2016 at Euro Packaging UK’s Yardley, Birmingham site, during cleaning a worker’s hand was drawn into the print rollers of a running machine. The incident resulted in the partial amputation of two fingers and the company, which pleaded guilty, was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,503.05.

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), it was found by Birmingham Magistrates’ Court that there was a lack of guarding on the machine, as well as a lack of training and supervision, which led to the incident.

Following the hearing, HSE inspector Karl Raw said: “This case serves as a reminder to industry that planning and guarding of machinery requires regular reviews and monitoring to ensure workplace safety. The need to review machinery guarding is a positive benefit to improving workplace safety.”

In a separate incident at Runcorn-based JFB Cores, a worker injured her left hand, losing two fingers and sustaining nerve damage, when her glove got caught on a rotating mandrel on a core cutting machine while removing newly cut tubes. The cardboard tube manufacturer, which also pleaded guilty, was fined £18,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,216 by Manchester Magistrates’ Court.

An HSE investigation found that the operation of the machine carried “unacceptable risk”, as employees were required to make contact with a rotating cylinder while removing finished work. This risked their hands being drawn into the cutting discs positioned below.

HSE found that this way of working had continued for a number of years and that the wearing of fabric gloves increased the risk of the accident happening. Lianne Farrington, the HSE inspector involved, said the risk “should have been identified” and called on employers to properly assess safety and apply control measures to minimise risks.

JFB Cores declined to comment and Euro Packaging was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.