A Moray manufacturing firm has been fined £20,000 after a worker suffered a full finger amputation while operating an industrial saw.
The employee was using machinery, known as the Megasaw, at Hendry Hydraulics in Elgin when the accident occurred.
A court heard that a front-load finger guard on the machine had been taped out of position and was obscuring a warning sign detailing the hazard.
Hendry Hydraulics Ltd. admitted a single charge of failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its workers.
The charge detailed how the company failed to make suitable and sufficient risk assessment for operators of the saw and failed to maintain a safe system of work for the machine resulting in the worker’s severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment.
Fiscal depute Stella Swan told the court that on January 20 2021 the employee was cutting a metal bar at the company’s Perimeter Road premises using the Megasaw.
She said: “A machine error occurred and, whilst the machine was still running, he inserted his hand into the exit chute at the front of the saw to retrieve a cut piece of metal.
Worker suffered ‘full amputation’
“His hand encountered the moving blade and he suffered a full amputation of his right index finger and partial amputation of his thumb.”
The court heard that the worker’s gloved finger was retrieved from the machine, while his thumb was left “hanging by skin”.
The worker was taken first to Doctor Gray’s Hospital in Elgin and then to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where “the thumb was sewn back on but the index finger could not be saved”.
A subsequent investigation found that there was “no safe system of work for dealing with offcut or machine error” and “operators would repeatedly place their hand at or in the front chute opening”.
No formal maintenance programme for the machine was identified and it was noted that this meant “the opportunity for the accused to become aware that the guard was taped up out of place was missed”.
It was also determined that the operator was wearing gloves at the time of the incident – contrary to the instruction manual.
Ms Swan told the court that the worker was in a band but was now unable to play the drums as a result of the incident.
She said he had seen a physiotherapist, psychologist and psychiatrist in the wake of the incident.
Saw operator’s ‘nightmares’
He was still using pain relief patches and reported ongoing “depression, anxiety and nightmares”.
“He advised the Crown that he has been unable to work since the incident,” Ms Swan said.
Barry Smith KC, for Hendry Hydraulics Ltd, told Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald:
“Mr Hendry, managing director, is present in court today – your ladyship should take his presence here as a mark of the seriousness with which he regards the incident.
“Both he and everyone associated with this small company very seriously regret that [the machine operator] suffered such serious injuries on this occasion.”
He continued: “The company recognises that the work it undertakes necessarily involves hazards, which must be taken account of and controlled.
“Some of the risks they manage are significant and complex.
“It is of the utmost regret that this accident caused such serious injury and that the efforts of the company were not sufficient at the time of this accident.”
He said the company accepted there was a failure in risk assessment and ensuring a safe system of work, but highlighted that this pertained only to a single machine on premises with 60,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
He said Hendry Hydraulics Ltd. responded “promptly and appropriately” following the incident and the breach was “not calculated or deliberate.”
‘Lessons have been learned’
“Lessons have been learned and changes have been made,” Mr Smith told the court.
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald said this was a “terrible incident” with “life-changing” consequences.
She said: “It is correct that the company have pled guilty to this charge – they have accepted responsibility,” noting: “They have taken significant steps to remedy the defect in the operation which led to this situation.”
The sheriff fined Hendry Hydraulics £20,000, to which a statutory victim surcharge of £1,500 was added – making a total financial penalty of £21,500.