Shepherd Neame was fined £11,000 after employee loses finger in poorly guarded machine

Brewer Shepherd Neame was fined £11,000 (inc. costs) on 29 January 2015 after a 21 year-old agency worker lost a finger in an unprotected machine.

The circumstances were:

• Equipment was inside an enclosure mostly protected with interlocks and lightguards.
• However, there was one gate which had no such interlock.
• This gate had been only sporadically secured since it had been installed. 
• It had been seen to be open during an inspection by HSE in 2012, at which time the company agreed to lock and secure the gate as soon as the line became operational again following repair work. 
• However, the accident shows that this was not done.
• On 23 June 2014, an employee entered this fenced-off section with the machine still running.
• He was hosing down an area when he slipped.
• His left arm instinctively shot out as he tried to regain his balance, but his hand came into contact with one of the operating parts of the machine. 
• It immediately began to be drawn in by a sprocket at the end of a conveyor.
• Realising what was happening, he pulled his arm back but when he managed to free his hand, he realised he had lost the top part of his index finger and crushed his thumb and middle finger.
• As a result of the incident he needed a full amputation of the left finger and repairs to his thumb and middle finger. 
• He has been unable to return to work 

The HSE Inspector said:

“This was an entirely-preventable incident. Shepherd Neame was aware of the guarding requirements for such a machine, but neglected to make sure that these safety measures were fully and consistently implemented. Those failures led to an employee suffering a painful injury that has permanent consequences.  Shepherd Neame had received previous advice from HSE on the same issue, but didn’t act sufficiently robustly to prevent this type of incident happening. All employers have a duty to protect their staff from risks they face doing their work and, in this case, that means making sure running machinery is effectively guarded.”