Manufacturer fined after 16-year-old apprentice loses finger

THE owner of a manufacturing business has been fined £6,000 after a 16-year-old apprentice lost his finger when operating a machine.

James Fussell of Leamington Spa-based Tecman Speciality Materials also has to pay £1,754 in costs after pleading guilty at Nuneaton Magistrates’ Court.

Tecman manufactures specialist adhesive tape for industrial applications. In September 2014, the apprentice was adjusting guides on a laminating head which is part of a rotary die press.

Whilst making the adjustment he tripped, put his hands forward and his index finger got caught in the drive gear at the rear of the laminating unit. His finger needed to be amputated as a result.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated and found the machine did not have guards in place to prevent access to dangerous parts of the rotary press.

HSE Inspector Michelle Morrison said: “If the company had ensured that access to the dangerous moving parts of the rotary die press had been prevented, then this young man would not have lost the top of one of his fingers. This was an entirely preventable incident.”

Mr Fussell pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.