A worker has suffered a partial finger amputation when he reached into an inadequately guarded automatic saw. His employer, Dlinexsign Ltd, has now been fined £20,000, ordered to pay him £15,000 in compensation, and ordered to pay over £9,000 in prosecution costs.

What happened

The machine in question was used by Thomas Davies, age 21, to cut lengths of material. Having reached into it to retrieve a cut piece, his hand came into contact with the moving saw blade, and he lost part of a finger.

The central failing was simple and avoidable: the worker was able to reach into the machine and access the dangerous moving parts while it was still operating.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the employer had failed to take effective measures to prevent access to the dangerous parts of the machinery.

HSE Inspector Dulanjala Kandana-Arachchige said “the incident demonstrated the serious consequences that can result when access to dangerous parts of machinery is not effectively prevented, adding that it was a preventable incident and that employers must ensure machinery is properly guarded and that effective measures are in place to prevent workers reaching dangerous moving parts.”

What is the HSE, and what does it investigate?

The Health and Safety Executive is the national regulator for workplace health and safety in Great Britain. Its general function is for ensuring health and safety at work assisting and encouraging compliance, carrying out research, and providing information and advice to employers and employees. It is the central enforcing body for health and safety law, working alongside local authorities and other designated enforcing authorities.

The HSE investigates workplace accidents and injuries and breaches of health and safety law. Serious workplace injuries must be reported to the HSE: the amputation of a finger is a “specified injury” that an employer is legally required to report under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR 2013), which is one of the ways an incident like the that of the workers comes to the regulator’s attention.

Where the HSE finds that an employer has fallen short, it has a range of enforcement powers. An inspector can serve an improvement notice requiring a breach to be put right within a set period, or a prohibition notice stopping a dangerous activity immediately, where there is a risk of serious personal injury.

In more serious cases the HSE can prosecute. On conviction, the court sentences the organisation using the Sentencing Council’s definitive guideline, assessing the offender’s culpability and the seriousness and likelihood of harm, and can impose an unlimited fine together with compensation and other orders.

What HSE findings mean for a personal injury claim?

An HSE investigation and, in particular, a conviction can significantly strengthen an injured worker’s personal injury claim for compensation. Where an employer has already admitted a safety breach that caused the injury, that admission is powerful support for the civil claim.

Can a claim be pursued even if the HSE takes no action?

Importantly, an injured worker does not need the HSE to have prosecuted, or taken any action at all, in order to bring a claim. Criminal prosecution and civil liability are separate.

An employer’s civil liability to an injured worker exists independently of the health and safety legislation, and those affected by a breach may be able to bring a claim in negligence.

As an example, an employer who fails to take reasonable care to keep workers safe for example, by leaving dangerous machinery unguarded can still be sued in negligence whether or not the HSE becomes involved. If you have been injured at work, the absence of an HSE prosecution is not a bar to recovering compensation.

How can we help?

If you have been injured at work by an unguarded or defective machine, or in any accident caused by your employer’s failure to keep you safe, you may be entitled to compensation. Our personal injury team acts for injured workers across the full range of workplace accidents.

We can review what happened, explain your options, and deal with the employer and its insurers on your behalf, typically on a no win, no fee basis. Contact us for a free, confidential discussion of your claim.