A TOILET roll manufacturer has been forced to pay £120,000 after an employee severed part of his finger in an 'avoidable' incident.

Accrol Papers, a directly owned subsidiary of Accrol Group Holdings, of Roman Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to a health and safety offence at Manchester Magistrates Court after a 22-year-old man had part of his finger severed in May 2016.

At sentencing on Wednesday, the toilet roll manufacturer was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9326.40 after it was revealed the company had been aware of the risk of serious injury before the incident, but had taken no action.

Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard how the worker lost the top of his right index finger when he touched a moving blade as he fed paper between two rollers, as part of the manufacturing process.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducted an investigation into the incident and found it was possible for employees to place one hand on the perforating blade, whilst pressing a button to move the rollers with the other.

The court heard that threading belts, which should have been used to safely feed the paper between the rollers were missing at the time of the incident.

The investigation also revealed that it was also possible to operate the machine with one hand and reach between the rollers with the other.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Leona Cameron said: “After the incident, the company moved the controls for the machine so that operators could not reach the blade when the machine was moving.

"Had this been done beforehand then the injury could have been avoided.

“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards”.

Following the incident, the Health and Safety Executive had indicated it would be seeking a fine in the range of £550,000 to £2.9million.

However, Accrol Papers received maximum credit for its early guilty plea meaning the fine was subject to a discount of a third.

Gareth Jenkins, CEO, of Accrol Group Holdings plc said that the organisation had learnt a 'great deal' from the incident.

He said: “The Group takes the Health and Safety of its employees very seriously and I believe that this was recognised in the level of fine and the discount applied.”

“As an organisation we have learnt a great deal from the accident and we continue to improve all aspects of Safety throughout the business.”