16th January 2025
Company Fined After Worker Loses 3 Fingers

What’s Happened?
A company has recently been fined after an employee had three fingers severed by a panel saw at work.
The company that manufactures timber frame structures for the construction industry. The employee was operating a panel saw and asked to cut down the thickness of a length of timber – known as a rip cut. This process involved passing a length of timber through the panel saw multiple times as the timber exceeded the depth the blade could cut in one pass.
CCTV footage from the site shows the employee completing the cut before flipping the length of timber over, but he soon found the second cut much more difficult. He can been seen attempting to feed the timber through the saw and while receiving it from the cut end, his right hand made contact with the saw blade, instantly amputating his index, middle and ring fingers, also cutting his little finger.
As a result of the injuries sustained, it is understood the injured employee now struggles to care for his children, including his young son, born after the accident.
HSE Investigation
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that Mr Broadway was asked to complete a task that was not suitable for the machine he was using. The company had also failed to ensure he received sufficient training or instruction on how to use the panel saw safely, which would have included vital information about the limitations of the saw, guarding and other safety features such as a riving knife and the use of a push stick. The saw-riving knife was also absent at the time of the incident.
The HSE has provided specific guidance on the safe use of woodworking machinery which includes how and when a rip cut is to be carried out – the guidance states that a panel saw with a circular blade must not be used unless the saw blade, at all times, projects through the upper surface of the material being cut.
The HSE investigation also discovered that the company had appropriate machines on site to undertake this task safely – but the injured employee was unaware of is this due to the lack of training he had received.
In Court
The company appeared at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ court on 8 January 2025, where they pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at. The company was fined £12,000 order to pay full costs of £4,034.
Speaking after the hearing the HSE inspector involved it the case said: “Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers.
“If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to the incident, the life-changing injuries sustained by Mr Broadway would not have happened.”
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