HSE fines paper firm
The Crimped Paper Works, based in Chapel-en-le-Frith, has been fined £15,000 after a Derbyshire worker suffered severe and permanent hand injuries.
Maintenance fitter David Millband was seriously injured when his right hand was caught in a reel-fed machine at The Crimped Paper Works on 16 February 2010.
Millband lost three fingers, partially severed his thumb, suffered injuries to his little finger and underwent two surgeries. He went back to work on light duties approximately four months after the incident but was made redundant when the company went into administration in January.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which investigated the incident, told Buxton Magistrates that Millband had been carrying out a visual check of the reel-fed machine when he noticed that the paper had come loose. When he opened the door of the machine, it kept running and his fingers became caught. The doors to the machine had interlocks for safety, but these had been overridden.
The Crimped Paper Works pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined and ordered to pay full costs of £3,956.
