County Tyrone engineering firm fined after an employee was seriously injured at work

Today (Friday 8 November) at Dungannon Crown Court, the company was fined £2,000 after earlier pleading guilty to a single health and safety offence.

The court heard that on 27 January 2023, an employee sustained serious hand injuries while using emery cloth at an automatic lathe. A metal component had been placed into the lathe and the emery cloth was applied by hand for the purposes of smoothing and resizing the component.

During this process, the employee’s right hand became entangled with the rotating lathe shaft. After transfer to hospital, the extent of the injuries resulted in the amputation of three fingers on his right hand. The employee also sustained fractures to his right hand and forearm, and fractures to his left hand.

HSENI Inspector, Kevin Campbell said: “Employers have a legal duty to ensure employees and others are not put at risk from unguarded machinery.

“Employers must ensure they complete a thorough risk assessment of the work process and implement proper controls to prevent harm to their workers. It is never acceptable to apply emery cloth directly by hand on a rotating automatic or manual metal working machine such as lathes.”

It was further established that the Company did not have an adequate risk assessment relating to the use of the lathe, and that it did not have adequate documented procedures or work instruction for use of the lathe.

More information in relation to the use of emery cloth on metalworking machines is available online at: www.hseni.gov.uk/news/safe-use-emery-cloth.