Gateshead's Marrill Ltd fined after man loses lower leg
A engineering firm whose worker had to have his lower leg amputated after getting it caught in an unguarded machine has been fined £20,000.
The victim's foot got caught in cogs when he was trying to fix a power press at Marrill Ltd in Gateshead in October 2011.
The firm admitted a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) breach at Gateshead Magistrates' Court.
The victim now has a prosthetic limb but has returned to work.
The hearing was also told he had to undergo a lengthy stay in hospital and also still needs physiotherapy.
The Coventry-based company pleaded guilty to one count of breaching the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations.
The HSE found there were serious safety failings at the premises in Neilson Road, Gateshead, and the moving gears on the machine had not had proper guards on them for more than two years.
It also found that despite staff being required to work close to the danger area, the company had continuously failed to properly assess the risks.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Paul Wilson said: "It was the company's responsibility to ensure that work equipment was safe and that dangerous moving parts were guarded.
"But for two to three years, Marrill Ltd required staff to approach the danger area around the gears, yet continuously failed to identify and address the matter of the missing guards."