A Bradford worker lost his hand and part of his arm while refurbishing a machine on which safety mechanisms had been overridden, a Court heard.

PET Engineering, of Bolton Avenue, Huncoat, Accrington, Lancashire, were fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £3,339 costs after the firm admitted a breach of general duty to employees at Hyndburn Magistrates Court.

David Thornton, who lives near Bradford, was injured while cleaning a moulding machine at the site on July 1.

Peter Greatorex, prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive, told the court Mr Thornton had been employed to refurbish an injection moulding machine used to make goods including plastic bottles and wheelie bins.

The machine had a multi-pronged moving injection mechanism capable of dealing with more than 330 tons of hot plastic and had a considerable amount of power, he said.

Normally there would be three different safety guards on the machine to prevent it from operating unless conditions were safe. But the electric, hydraulic and mechanical safety mechanisms had all been tied up with plastic cable ties to provide a manual override, Mr Greatorex said.

He said the company had failed to brief Mr Thornton on how they wanted him to do the job and had not assessed the risks involved.

Sarah Williams, defending, said the company, founded in August 1997, had a workforce of ten and an annual turnover of £250,000.

The firm refurbished second-hand plastics machines. The device in question had been sold and Mr Thornton was giving it a test run.

Miss Williams said Mr Thornton had considerable experience and knowledge of the machine concerned. The accident would never have happened if Mr Thornton had shut down the hydraulic system before starting.

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