Firm Fined After Worker’s Thumb and Finger Sawn off in Joinery Workshop

A construction and building firm based in Suffolk was fined last week after a bench joiner's finger and thumb were amputated by a moulding machine. The worker, 24, had been shaping a piece of timber at the firm's joinery workshop on 10 June 2010, when it caught in the cutter and dragged his left hand into the blades.

The local magistrates' court heard the thumb and index finger on the worker's left hand were amputated and the remaining fingers severely cut.

Reconstructive plastic surgeons at a local hospital were able to reattach the thumb and finger, but the individual will only be able to regain half their use. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the company was not using the correct work holders, known as 'jigs'.