Man undergoes surgery after suffering serious injury at Horsham district firm

The man was injured whilst working for the firm in April last year

Thakeham Tiles Ltd has been fined tens of thousands of pounds after one of its staff members was seriously injured in an incident last year .

The Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) said on April 25 a man had been making concrete screen wall blocks at the firm's site in Rock Road. Whilst working his hand became trapped in a machine he was using and was then crushed.

The executive said the man had to undergo surgery to stabilise his hand and he also broke three fingers and his thumb.

Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive, the organisation said it had found Thakeham Tiles had 'failed to ensure that the machine was properly guarded'. It also found the machine had 'not been properly guarded for a number of years'.

Thakeham Tiles pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

The firm was fined £26,667 and ordered to pay a further £3,560 in costs, the HSE said.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Russell Beckett said: “This case highlights the importance of ensuring that dangerous moving parts of machinery are guarded.

“This incident could so easily have been avoided by having suitable guarding on the machine and systems in place to periodically check machine safety.”