Unguarded machine costs SIG Trading £600k in fines

The incident happened at A Steadman and Son near Welton, Carlisle, the trading name of SIG Trading Ltd, on 21 October 2015. 

Carlisle Crown Court heard how employee Matthew Hook had been using an electrically-powered folding machine to bend metal, when his hand became trapped between the jaws of the machine.  

He had to undergo amputation of parts of four fingers on his left dominant hand owing to the crush injuries he sustained. 

An investigation by HSE found SIG Trading, part of FTSE 250 company SIG plc, had failed to ensure workers only used the folding machine when the guards were in place, to prevent them reaching dangerous parts while it was in operation. 

As reported by the BBC, a safety measure had been deliberately circumvented allowing staff to activate the machine while standing closer than they should. Although the risk of injury had been identified, “the serious and obvious risk” was subsequently removed from the risk assessment, said Craig Hassall for the prosecution. 

SIG Trading Ltd of Adsetts House, Sheffield pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £600,000 with costs of £23,593.83. 

Sig Trading was fined £12,000 in 2013 after a customer was crushed against at wall at its Eccles warehouse in September 2012. In August 2011 SIG Trading was fined £36,000 after an employee was run over by a forklift truck at the firm’s Livingstone warehouse in Scotland. 

In February 2010 an employee lost part of three fingers in an incident at its Yorkshire plant and SIG Manufacturing was fined £25,000.