A COMPANY has been fined thousands of pounds after a worker had his hand crushed in an antique machine.

Frank Smythson Limited, which has a factory employing 20 people on the Blackworth Industrial Estate in Highworth, was yesterday fined £3,000 by Swindon magistrates after pleading guilty to exposing an employee to risk of injury.

The printing firm, which makes company stationery like letterheads and envelopes, was also ordered to pay £1,1200 court costs to the Health and Safety Executive, which brought the case against it.

The court heard that on November 10 last year supervisor Michael Good-year was changing a plate in a 95-year-old dye embossing machine when the machine snapped shut on his hand, crushing it.

The accident came 10 months after the firm had been warned by the HSE to put in safety precautions on the machine to prevent such an incident.

Mr Goodyear, who has now made a full recovery and is back at work, needed several stitches and an operation on his hand.

Ian Whittles, prosecuting on behalf of the HSE, said: "The machine was built around 1910.

"To change a plate you have to manually reach right inside the machine.

"Mr Goodyear was setting the machine for a production run when it snapped shut on his hand. This was because the gear that is meant to help it stay up slipped.

"The company had been contacted 10 months before saying that the machine needed proper guarding on it to protect hands from its jaws.

"Also the plate could have had a handle on it so it would have been unnecessary to put your hand in it.

"It is fortunate the injuries were not more serious.

"The company contacted us at the first opportunity to tell us the accident happened and entered a guilty plea as early as possible."

Lydia Sweeney, defending, said an investigation into the accident revealed that the machine's clutch was suffering from slippage and that it had not been in use since.

She said: "At the time of the accident we were in the process of getting the parts to guard the machine.

"But because of the specific nature of the machine, they still had not been delivered from Switzerland.

"Before this incident the company had an excellent safety record."

Fining the company, chairman of the bench Martin Smith said: "Despite the company being in the process of safeguarding the machine this had not yet happened.

"But there is no question that the company was putting profit over safety.

"It is to its credit that it pleaded guilty as early as possible."

After the hearing, Frank Smythson Ltd's commercial director Martin Wildsmith said: "We deeply regret what happened and are very glad that Mr Goodyear has made a full recovery."

Jamie Hill