One print worker who hails from Oxford suffered a serious accident claim when one of his hands was drawn into a machine designed to stack booklets.
After it admitted to breaching two Health and Safety regulations, which had led to the work accident claim, Bicester-based BenhamGoodHeadPrint Ltd, located on Launton Road in the Chaucer Business Park, now faces fines of £4,000. Additionally the firm was ordered to pay over £3,000 in costs as well.
The Magistrates Court in Banbury heard testimony how the forty year old print worker was attempting to clear booklets from the machine due to a jam when it started up again without warning. His thumb was drawn underneath one component of the machine, a moving roller, which caused severe cuts and lacerations that were so serious the man needed stitches in addition to six weeks away from work for recovery time.
The Health and Safety Executive’s investigation found that the machine was missing a safety guard. If the guard had been present, the HSE concluded, access to the machine’s moving parts would not have been possible, therefore making the man’s personal injury at work impossible.
One inspector for the Health and Safety Executive commented that the the highly dangerous nature of print machinery was highlighted by the unfortunate incident. Furthermore the inspector added that with the proper planning and preventative measures in place, the accident claim could have been easily avoided.
The company has since gone on to install guards on the machine in the days following the accident in order to keep hazardous moving parts away from their workers.
It is unclear at this time if the injured worker will be making any kind of personal injury compensation claim for his pain, hospital bills, and lost work, but industry experts say they would not be surprised if such a claim were to be filed sometime soon.