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Laundry firm fined after worker has fingers amputated (8 December 2014)

Date: 08/12/2014
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Laundry firm fined after worker has fingers amputated

A laundry firm based at Woking in Surrey has been prosecuted, after a 57-year-old female worker lost four fingers after her hand was drawn into an inadequately guarded ironing machine.

The unnamed employee from Old Woking had worked at the White Knight Laundry for 15 years.

She underwent surgery to amputate four fingers and part of her hand after suffering severe crush injuries and burns to her right hand. The worker has been advised she will need further surgery to remove more of the injured hand and will need to wear a prosthetic in the future. She has been unable to return to work.

An investigation into the incident – which occurred on 30 September 2013 – revealed that the laundry based at Horsell Moor was guilty of a health and safety breach.

Investigators from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the front fingerguard on the industrial feed-in ironing machine the woman was using had not been properly adjusted for the task of hand-feeding linen.

As a result, the aperture was too wide and offered insufficient protection to employees, who were exposed to dangerous moving parts.

The HSE said ample guidance from the textile industry on effective guarding was available, owing to a well-documented risk to workers involving getting caught in the in-running nip of laundry rollers.

On Tuesday, 2 December 2014 at Redhill Magistrates’ Court in Surrey, White Knight Laundry Services Ltd of Horsell Moor, Woking in Surrey pleaded guilty to one breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states:

“Every employer shall ensure that measures are taken…which are effective to prevent access to any dangerous part of machinery or to any rotating stock-bar.”

White Knight Laundry Services Ltd was fined £10,500 and ordered to pay £1,381 in costs.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Russell Beckett said:

“White Knight laundry Services Ltd fell short of the expected standards. The machine was not correctly guarded – had it been so, this incident could not have happened.

“The company failed to check that the ironing machine was safe to use – either practically, by ensuring that it stopped when a person’s hand entered the danger zone; or against published and accepted industry standards.

“As a result, a worker has sustained life-changing injuries and has been severely traumatised.

“Machine guards are there for a very obvious reason and no employer should neglect their correct use,” Mr Beckett added.

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