A POOLE company has been fined £5,000 after a lorry driver’s fingers were severed in an accident at work.

Woodland Environmental Ltd, based at Hatch Pond Road was held to account after a lorry driver suffered a serious injury while using a wheel cleaning machine at a construction site near Barnet in July 2010 He lost his entire index finger, half his middle finger and the end of his ring finger – medics were unable to reattach them, leaving him with permanent injuries.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that he was attempting to use a wheel spinner, used to remove mud and debris from vehicles before they use public roads, but the equipment, operated by Woodland Environment-al, has been adapted forcing drivers to use it in an unsafe way.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found a rope had been added to hold a brake lever in position, and that, as the driver attempted to release it, it caught and severed his fingers.

The rope had been in place for several months.

The HSE found Woodland Environmental Ltd’s management systems and procedures for monitoring equipment inadequate.

The company was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £8,833 in costs after pleading guilty to two separate breaches of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.