Sheffield packaging firm fined £100k after worker's fingers severed in saw

The man was injured while operating a rotating saw at Loadhog in Sheffield

A packaging manufacturer has been fined £100,000 after an agency worker partially severed three fingers while operating a rotating saw.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the saw at Loadhog in Sheffield did not have a suitable guard in place at the time of the incident in 2020.

Loadhog Ltd pleaded guilty at Sheffield Magistrates' Court to two counts of breaching health and safety law.

The BBC has approached Loadhog for comment.

The worker's fingers were reattached in hospital following the incident on 15 June 2020, an HSE spokesperson said.

A subsequent investigation found the company had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, resulting in a "failure to provide a suitable guard" for the machinery.

After the hearing on 25 April, HSE inspector Laura Hunter said: "This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply implementing the correct control measures and safe working practices."

Loadhog was also ordered to pay £3,139.75 in costs.