Lighting Firm Owner Fined

An expert in accident at work claims has called on all companies to ensure that adequate protective guarding is in use on dangerous machinery.

Workplace injury lawyer David Urpeth of Irwin Mitchell commented after Darren Wring, the owner of Bristol lighting firm Fineline, was fined £20,000 over an incident in February 2010 in which an employee hit his head on a cutter rotating at full speed.

Whilst Rolf Weber sustained a head injury in the incident, the Health and Safety Executive stated he was fortunate not to have been hurt more seriously. The organisation also stated that the area in which the machinery was running should have been properly guarded.

Injury expert David Urpeth said: “This is yet another example of the need for safety to be higher up the agenda.

 “The use of guarding on machinery may seem like common sense to many, but so many accident at work claims are linked back to the lack of such equipment.

“I urge organisations to do all they can to protect their staff from potential risks in the workplace and ensure that everyone goes to work on a morning and are able to go home safely at the end of the day.”