An agricultural firm has been fined after an employee lost a finger when his hand became trapped in a machine.
A male worker at CYO Seeds Ltd was cleaning a machine at a site in Shipbourne, Tonbridge, Kent, on 10 February 2021, when his glove was caught by a rotating device. His handed became trapped and his right index finger was amputated.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had removed part of the outer casing of the machine and had replaced it with a sliding cover. The cover was easily removable and exposed dangerous parts of the machine when it was running. When cleaning the machine at the end of the working day, it was common practice to run the machine for a short period of time with the sliding cover removed.