Car maker Honda has been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay nearly £6,000 in costs after an employee had two fingers severed while working on machinery at its giant Swindon plant.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that 55-year-old production worker Cesar Santos’ right hand became entangled in polishing equipment at the plant when he was distracted by a group of managers.
Mr Santos had been using an emery cloth to polish a metal component as it rotated on a manual lathe when his glove got caught Swindon Magistrates’ Court heard.
He had been in the last stages of polishing the component when the supervisors and managers distracted him by the asking how much longer he would be.
Mr Santos was off work for six weeks following the incident before returning to build up to normal duties. However, he still requires the assistance of colleagues at times, the court was told.
The HSE investigation found that Honda of the UK Manufacturing did not provide a safe system of work and failed to assess the dangers involved in the work Mr Santos was requested to carry out.
In addition, the company failed to enforce its own glove policy which indicated gloves should not be worn while using machinery.
The firm was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £5,959 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Ian Whittles said: “This incident could have easily been prevented had there been a safe system of work in place and the company’s glove policy had been enforced. Honda clearly failed to ensure the safety of its employees, with painful consequences for Mr Santos.
“If an emery cloth is held by hand and wrapped round a work piece, there is a high risk of it becoming entangled. Wearing gloves also increases the risk of entanglement and for these reasons hand application of emery cloth should be avoided.
“The law clearly states that employers should take all reasonably practicable steps to protect employees from harm arising from their work. In the case of machinery, moving parts that could cause injury should be guarded or made safe so that people cannot come into contact with them.
“In this case, a tool holder could have been used or the component could have been taken off the lathe and polished by hand.”
HSE advises that emery cloths should not be applied by hand on manual or CNC lathes.
