Plastics firm fined after two workers lose fingers in just ten days
- LESH
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
Both incidents happened during ten-day period in August 2024.
Two workers lost fingers in different pieces of machinery.
One of them, a grandmother, had worked at the firm for 28 years.
A company in Leeds that produces plastic products has been fined after two of its workers lost fingers in machinery in separate incidents over the course of just ten days.
Commercial Lines Limited, trading as HLN Supplies, pleaded guilty to charges brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the two unrelated incidents in August 2024 – both caused by unsafe machinery.
The HSE investigation found the company hadn’t put adequate guards on machinery, meaning dangerous parts were easily accessible. The first incident happened on 12 August, when Angela Morrison, a then 61-year-old grandmother, was attempting to clear a blockage on a sanding machine. The plastics fabricator reached into a ventilation port, and her hand came in contact with a large metal rotating disk, resulting in severe damage to the fingers on her right hand.
Mrs Morrison, who has eight grandchildren, and had worked for the company for 28 years, described how she was initially in shock and could not feel any pain, but was operated on within an hour of being rushed into hospital. Doctors needed to remove what was left of her middle finger, with another finger being seriously damaged – so much so, it will also now need to be amputated.
“They are also going to remove a portion of what is left of my middle finger to make it look better,” she explained.
“I am naturally right-handed so everything is now much more difficult. You don’t notice it until you go and do something and then you realise you can’t. Little things like opening the oven or getting out change in my purse.
“My grandchildren were a bit afraid and squeamish of my injuries at first but they soon got used to it. There are things I can’t do for them that I would like to, such as doing my granddaughter’s hair.
“When I think about the accident, I just keep thinking ‘if only it didn’t happen’ or if I’d done something differently. I just want to turn the clock back.
“I have been off work since, but my long-term hope is to get back to work, even if it’s an office job.”
Despite the wholly avoidable incident – it was only ten says later on 22 August, that another worker sustained serious injuries when his left hand came into contact with the blade of a table saw he was using to cut small strips of plastic. The 57-year-old lost part of the finger above the knuckle on his index finger and required surgery to remove the top of his middle finger several days later.
The HSE investigation found the company had failed to provide adequate guarding on the sanding machine, allowing dangerous parts to be easily accessible. Additionally, table saw training had been insufficient, and no safe work systems were in place when cutting small materials. The company also failed to have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment in place for the work being carried out.
Every year, there are a number of accidents from using work equipment, including machinery. Many are serious and some are fatal.
Commercial Lines Limited (T/A HLN Supplies), of Upper Accommodation Road, Leeds, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and section 3(1) The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 – They were fined £16,000 plus £6,534 in costs at Leeds Magistrates Court on 26 March 2026.
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