Employee loses fingers in machinery accident

A Rotorua-based saw blade and cutting tool manufacturer has been fined $30,000 for failing to properly guard a machine, which amputated an employee’s three fingers last September.

The Auckland District Court also ordered Checkmate Precision Cutting Tools Limited to pay reparations of $10,000 to the injured employee.

On 16 September last year the employee was working on the 30-tonne punch and forming press to cut saw blade teeth on metal strips.

The court heard that as the employee put his right hand in the machine to remove scrap metal, he accidentally pressed the foot pedal, activating the machine and amputating his three fingers.

“Our investigation found that the employee was working with a machine that did not have adequate safety guards – this is unacceptable,” says the Department of Labour’s Bay of Plenty Service Manager, Murray Thompson.

“Too many employees are being seriously injured in work accidents that could be easily prevented. Guarding hazardous machines, like this 30 tonne punch and forming press, is one of the simplest ways to keep employees safe while they work,” says Mr Thompson.

“The frequency and severity of accidents involving machinery must be reduced. The Department is visiting companies’ as part of a three-year nationwide ‘safe use of machinery’ project to remind employers that they are responsible under the Health and Safety in Employment Act for their employees’ safety at work. Since the project started in August last year we’ve visited almost 900 companies nationally,” Mr Thompson says.