Laura Ponsford, who was 21 at the time of the incident in February last year, had the middle finger of her right hand torn off while operating a drill to widen the neck of a glass bottle.Preston Crown Court heard the investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident at Greatdale (trading as Cumbria Crystal) found the firm had failed to prevent operatives from accessing dangerous parts of machinery.
Mrs Ponsford, 21, had only been working at the defendant’s premises at The Lakes Glass Centre, Ulverston, for one year and has since left the company.
The court heard on the afternoon of20 February 2015, she was using a ‘pillar drill’ to widen (or ream) theneck of a glass bottle. The chuck and reamer were unguarded. Mrs Ponsford was wearing latex gloves while performing this task, however the glove on her right hand became entangled within the rotating parts of the reamer resulting in the middle finger of her hand being severed.
She underwent 10 hours of surgery to reattach the finger, but was later told the operation had not been successful. She had to undergo a further operation in March 2015 to have the finger surgically amputated below the second knuckle.
