A staff member for an Oldham soft furnishings firm lost a middle finger after it was tangled in a machine used to coil duvets, a court has heard.

The incident occurred at the West End Street site of Azura Soft Furnishings UK Limited on Highfield Industrial Estate back in November 2018.

Azura referred itself to the Health and Safety Executive in the aftermath, and an investigation discovered one of the machine's safety sensors had been overridden to allow it to run while workers' hands were still inside.

At Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday (April 21), in a case drawn out due to a change of plea and coronavirus, Recorder Jon Close slapped the firm with a significant fine.

Prior to sentence, prosecutor Rosalind Emsley-Smith said the staff member involved in the incident three and a half years ago had been trained to use the machine a day earlier.

He had noticed one of the safety sensors was covered by foil and had been told this was to allow it to run while its doors were open, allowing workers to straighten the duvets and avoid them being caught and damaged.

The next day, the staff member was following his training when his middle finger was tangled in the machine.

He was rushed to hospital, where he underwent a 10-hour operation, but his middle finger had to be amputated.

Ms Emsley-Smith said: "It has changed his entire life. He is unable to do anything and he depends on his wife. 

"He has lost his self-confidence, his self-esteem, his life has changed. He can't lead an ordinary life anymore."

Although Azura referred itself to the Health and Safety Executive, it denied a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act in March 2020, as did its director Tariq Majid, who did not authorise the alterations to the machine or the training given on it.

A trial was set and then postponed until January 2022, but it did not go ahead after an agreement for the firm to admit a breach.

Mr Majid was acquitted and issued with a caution.

In mitigation, Tom Gent said the machine was in testing after it had been delivered in August 2018 and was not in use on the main production line.

He stressed Azura's otherwise immaculate record on safety, as well as its cooperation with the Health and Safety Executive and its commitment to improve after the incident.

But Recorder Close fined the firm £13,600 and ordered it to cover costs of £17,260.90 incurred in preparation for the trial which did not go ahead.

Azura has 18 months to pay the total of £30,860.90, or around half of the firm's profits in the last financial year.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Peter Lennon said: “This injury was entirely preventable and could have been avoided by ensuring checks were carried out on the machine prior to its use.

"It was important to ensure the sensors were in good working order and that the machine was being operated safely, with a suitable guard in place. 

“Adequate supervision should also have been in place to ensure the machine was not being used by untrained or unauthorised operatives. 

"Directors also have a responsibility to ensure that they recognise the way in which their employees are working and deal with any unsafe working practices.”