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A textiles company have been fined 300,000 after their wilful blindness led to a 21-year-old having to have his left hand partially amputated.

Heathcoat Fabrics, based in Tiverton, admitted contravening health and safety regulations by failing to prevent access to the dangerous parts of the L-Stenter mangle at their plant in Westexe.

Exeter Magistrates Court on Tuesday heard that an investigation was launched by the Health and Safety Executive after an incident that occurred in the factory on August 23 which led to Anthony Seward, an employee with the company, suffering a serious crush injury to his left hand.

Prosecuting, Mr Mannell said that a light curtain, which automatically stops the rollers on the L-Stenter mangle machine when the beam of light is broken, had been installed in 2009 for the machine, but it has broken down in January 2014. Replacement parts had been ordered, but rather than being installed, a risk assessment had been undertaken that decided that the use of an emergency stop-cord would be sufficient as a safety measure.

On August 23, 2016, Mr Seward was preparing and cleaning the L-Stenter mangle for the night shift when his left hand became entangled in the machine when he didnt realise that the rollers were on.

Mr Mannell said: The stenter had been used for two years and seven months without a light curtain as they felt that the stop-cord would be sufficient to prevent the risk of injury, but they failed to appreciate what could happen due to a lack of concentration or other factors when someone entered the danger zone. They were wrong that a stop-wire would be enough to reduce the risk of injury.

Mr Seward suffered severe crush injuries to four fingers on his left hand and he was flown by Air Ambulance to Bristol.

Explaining his injuries to the court, he said that he currently has no use of his left hand, he has to go back and forth to Bristol twice-a-week, he is not expected to gain the full use of his hand, and he may require an amputation.

He said that he was a retained firefighter but as a result of the injuries, this was no longer a career option.

Mr Mannell said: This case is about the fact that they failed to reinstate the light curtain to stop access to the danger zone. They knew this was a risk as they had installed it as a control measure prior to the incident happening.

The fact that they had assessed the risk and had put in the control of the light curtain previously shows how avoidable and preventable this accident was. What they did instead was inadequate and resulted in this very serious injuries.

Their wilful blindness to the risk that was in place meant that the controls did not reach industrial standard.

Mitigating on behalf of Heathcoat Fabrics, Mr Christopher Ducann said: This was a complete tragedy as to what had happened and it is truly regrettable. This was an avoidable accident and to that extent, we fully apologise for it.

He said that although it was not entirely clear as to the circumstances that led to the injury occurring, it was irrelevant as the law was about the risk of injury occurring.

He added: This is a company with no previous convictions and it is a matter of considerable shame and embarrassment that they are in this court today. Within a matter of days, they stop steps to prevent this happening again and they have fully co-operated with the investigation.

Sentencing the company, District Judge Stephen Nicholls said that it was clear that Mr Seward had suffered a considerable injury.

He fined Heathcoat Fabrics Ltd 300,000, and also ordered them to pay costs of 2,862.30 and a victim surcharge of 170.

Heathcoat Fabrics Ltd pleaded guilty to the charge of contravening a health and safety regulation in that between 18 January 2014 adn 24 August 2016 being an employer within the meaning of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 ("theAct"), contravened regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 in that you failed to take effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of the L-stenter mangle and in particular, its mangle rollers, whereby you are guilty of an offence contrary to Section 33(1)(c) of the Act.

Speaking after the sentence, Cameron Harvie, managing director of Heathcoat Fabrics said in a statement: Heathcoat Fabrics deeply regrets the incident which resulted in todays hearing. As the Court has today acknowledged, the Company takes health and safety serious and has an established track record in safety performance.

In the aftermath of the incident, we have taken the opportunity to further review and improve our existing safety systems. We have co-operated fully with the HSE in its investigation into the incident.

The court also heard that Mr Seward was pursuing a civil action about the company.

Founded in 1808, Heathcoat Fabrics is the leading supplier of engineered textile solutions. From off the shelf fabrics to bespoke solutions our innovative, customer-focused approach ensures that we can design, develop, test and deliver a wide variety of fabrics across the continents to many of the world's leading companies

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Company fined after 'wilful blindness' led to employee's hand being ... - Devon Live

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