The makers of the Jiffy Bag have been fined after a worker’s thumb was cut off.

Liverpool Crown Court found that Jiffy Packaging Company Ltd had failed to adequately prevent access to dangerous machinery parts.

In attempting to clean ink from a roller, the worker had reached through an unguarded section in a machine’s frame. The cloth he used got caught in a motorised cog causing his hand to be pulled into rotating parts.

The worker’s injuries meant he was unable to work for 15 weeks.

Inadequate guarding

The machine’s rollers and cogs had been partly guarded with an interlocked guard. However, an investigation by the Health & Safety Executive found the company had not done enough as it had not prevented access to all of the machine’s dangerous parts.

The HSE said the employee’s injuries “could have been prevented if a suitable and sufficient risk assessment had been completed and the correct control measures implemented.”

The investigation revealed the company’s risk assessment was nine years old and had been written by an employee untrained in doing risk assessments.

Little wonder it didn’t identify the risks related to unguarded machinery or any control measures!

Jiffy Packaging had also been served with several HSE improvement notices on machinery guarding.

Jiffy Packaging Company Ltd breached the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £70,000 with costs of £53,509.

Please also see our recent article on machine guarding.