A WORKER needed skin grafts on his fingers after getting a hand trapped in an inking roller at a North Yorkshire factory, magistrates were told.

Rigid Containers Ltd of Selby was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £2,111 in prosecution costs after admitting failing to ensure the health and safety of staff, including accident victim Graham Huggins.

Selby magistrates were told the company had been aware of the risks with the equipment and intended to take action, but failed to do so in time to prevent the accident.

However, the firm also had an excellent health and safety record and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, said the bench chair, Christine Dennis.

Keith King, of the Health and Safety Executive, said Mr Huggins was working at the factory in Denison Road, which makes corrugated cartons and boxes, when the accident happened last October.

He noticed the printing was becoming faded and climbed on to the machine and opened a lid covering the unit to check the ink flow into the rollers down a pipe.

He tapped the pipe to try to unblock it, with the rollers continuing to rotate slowly and one of his gloved hands got into a roller. He pulled his hand out but it was still injured, and he underwent a skin graft on to his index finger, middle finger and thumb.

“He has not yet returned to work and is still having difficulty getting back the full use of his hand.”

He said the lid was not properly guarded and this was inexcusable.

Chris Foulkes, representing Rigid Containers, said the employee was a fully-trained machine operator who had been trained how to work safely on the equipment.

“The company is not cavalier when it comes to health and safety,” he said. “It is a priority for the company.”