A national company specialising in products and services to rural communities was fined after a worker was injured in a woodworking machinery incident.

Salisbury Magistrates’ Court heard how on 3 September 2014, a worker’s hand came into contact with the blade of a rotating circular saw, at the Amesbury premises of Countrywide Farmers PLC (CWF).The incident caused serious injury to two fingers on his left hand which resulted in amputation.

Countrywide Farmers PLC, of Asparagus Way, Vale Park, Evesham, Worcestershire, was fined a total of £30,000, and ordered to pay £5,157 in costs after pleading guilty to offences under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Speaking after the hearing Health and Safety Executive inspector Andy Shaw said: “This incident and the disfiguring injury that it caused resulted from basic failings in the appreciation and control of a well-known hazardous operation.

”Necessary guidance and physical means to carry out the work safely were both readily and cheaply available, and the firm should have provided both. Had the person in control been well informed and provided with competent supporting advice, this incident would not have happened.”

For more information about unguarded machinery visit the website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/machinery/safety.htm