A timber company has been fined after an employee suffered serious injuries when his thumb was cut with a saw blade.
An investigation found Watford Timber Company failed to take a machine out of use when a protective guard stopped working.
As a consequence, Maceij Rudnicki suffered a severed thumb on his right hand after it made contact with an unguarded blade while he was using a resaw.
The incident, which happened on February 13 2019, led to a probe being launched by the Health & Safety Executive.
At Reading Magistrates' Court on May 25 this year, Watford Timber Company, of Olds Approach in Tolpits Lane, were fined £13,400 and ordered to pay costs of £5,358.05 after pleading guilty to breaching two regulations.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Nigel Fitzhugh said: "The incident could have been easily avoided had the company taken the machine out of use and repaired the guard as soon as it became inoperable. Employers must ensure that machinery guarding is kept in good working order."
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