Haringey News

Haringey builder wins costs after hand slice near-miss

By Elizabeth Pears

7:00am Saturday 4th September 2010

A Haringey builder has won costs after his hand was nearly sliced off while at work.

Rondeo Schoeman, 32, from Tottenham, was constructing a wooden handrail at a workshop in Willesden when the machinery he was using malfunctioned and pulled his hand towards the blades.

He suffered severe damage to his left hand and spent a month in hospital recovering from the accident after undergoing three operations to transfer bones in each foot to replace bones in his hand as well as skin grafts.

His employer, Maplestead Limited, of Orchard Gate, Greenford, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Maplestead Limited was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,000.

The HSE investigation found poor planning did not highlight specific hazards for making curved pieces on the spindle moulder used by Mr Schoeman It found Maplestead Limited failed to provide suitable machine guarding for the work, and had no safeguards fitted to reduce the severity of injuries.

There was also a lack of adequate supervision and training which could have prevented this accident. HSE Inspector Jack Wilby said: "It is the responsibility of all companies to make sure that this work is properly planned and that adequate supervision and training is provided.

"Limited cutter projection tooling is a recognised standard of guarding for spindle moulders that has been compulsory since December 2003.

"Had any of these reasonably practicable precautions been taken, then it is unlikely that Rondeo Schoeman would have suffered these horrendous injuries."

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