AN ENGINEERING firm has been ordered to pay £7,000 after a 60-year-old worker’s hand was mangled in a drill.

Michael O’Brien, from Clitheroe, suffered permanent loss of movement to three fingers in his left hand following the incident at a construction site.

He spent four days in hospital, required several skin grafts and has been unable to return to work as a result of his injuries.

Jex Engineering Company Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failing to ensure a guard was provided on the drill.

The firm, of Red Hall Court in Wakefield, was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £3,250 towards prosecution costs in a hearing at South Ribble Magistrates’ Court in Leyland.

After the hearing, Mr O’Brien said: “I’d only been working for the company for a couple of days but you just expect employers to know what they’re doing when it comes to health and safety.

“Two of my fingers have been virtually paralysed and I now find it very difficult to grip with my left hand.

"Things I used to be able to do naturally, like holding a fork or opening a jar, now take real effort.

"I just hope the same thing doesn’t happen to someone else as I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

The court heard Mr O’Brien had been installing a machine in a new factory in Sustainability Way in Leyland when the incident happened.

His hand got caught in the chuck, which holds the drill bit in place, while he was drilling holes into a steel plate.

The HSE investigation found the company failed to spot the guard was missing both when it hired the drill, and when it was issued to Mr O’Brien.

It also wrongly indicated the drill had been fitted with a guard when it completed an assessment form for the work.