Employers are legally responsible for employee safety and must do all they can to prevent employees from being injured in the workplace.<\/p>\n
A seal and label producing company based in Kent was fined after a worker injured his hand in a printing press. Maidstone Crown Court heard that an employee of Fuji Seal Europe Ltd (FSE) was cleaning a blade on a printing press when his hand was drawn into the machine.<\/p>\n
The employee suffered severe injuries; namely fractures and skin loss to fingers on his right hand which required a titanium fixture for his middle finger.
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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides a framework for workplace health and safety in GB. The framework helps promote workplace safety and has proven to save many thousands of lives as well as preventing injuries at work. The framework has had a positive impact on workplace safety for the past 40 years and has reduced the economic and social costs of health and safety failures.<\/p>\n
The HSE undertook an investigation on 11th<\/sup> March 2015 and found that FSE failed to provide a suitable guard on the machine which could have prevented the employee’s finger from being drawn into the machine. It is of reasonable workplace standards that a safety guard should’ve been fitted to the machine. Without the guard, the HSE noted that the system of work used was ‘flawed and unsafe’.<\/p>\n FSE pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court for breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998. Regulation 11 notes that: <\/p>\nPUWER Breach<\/h3>\n