The Health and Safety Executive has prosecuted a furniture firm after an accident severed the top of an employee's finger.
The HSE also urged employers to risk assess work involving woodworking machines to ensure they're appropriately guarded and operators are adequately trained.

The call followed the prosecution of an Oxfordshire-based company at Maidenhead Magistrates' Court last Friday (20 February).

Julian Christian Designs Ltd, based in Chalgrove, is a manufacturer of quality garden furniture and buildings.

The firm pleaded guilty to contravening regulations and were fined a total of £3000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,500.

The prosecution came after an investigation by the HSE following an incident in Cookham, Maidenhead on 18 July 2007.

An employee was using an inverted and unguarded router to machine pieces of wood.

While using the router, which was rotating at more than 8,000 revolutions per minute, the employee's glove got caught in the cutter tool and pulled his hand into it.

The top of his ring finger was severed and his middle finger was slashed to the bone.

The company had not carried out a risk assessment for the work being undertaken and the cutter piece was not adequately guarded.

David Bibby, HSE inspector, said: "This case demonstrates the importance of firstly ensuring machinery is adequately guarded and people are trained to use it safely.

"But also of taking a step back and looking at what is being done to ensure appropriate controls are in place, hence the importance of suitable and sufficient risk assessments."