A COMPANY has been fined £15,000 after a young worker lost part of his hand in a factory accident.

Christopher Holmes was feeding a sheet of steel into a machine on his second day of work at Gigant UK, in Shildon, County Durham, when his right hand was crushed between two rollers.

The 18-year-old was using the roll-forming machine, which makes steel pressure cylinders for large vehicle brakes, for the first time when his hand was caught in the machine. Surgeons later had to amputate his little finger, the side of his hand and part of his second finger.

Managing director Graham Allen pleaded guilty at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court, on behalf of the company, to failing to ensure the safety of employees.

Health and Safety Executive inspector Dr David Shallow said a risk assessment carried out at the plant several years earlier had highlighted the potential hazard.

A similar accident last November, in which a worker fractured several bones in his hand, should have prompted remedial action, he said.

Ranj Matharu, mitigating, said that had since been done.

Workers now use brackets to guide the steel plates through the machine so their hands do not get too close to the rollers.

Magistrates also heard that the company was fined £1500 in July 1999 after a worker lost two fingers while using a circular saw, which was immediately removed from the site.

On Monday the company, based on the Dale Road Industrial Estate, and which has an annual turnover of £1.5m, was given 28 days to pay the fine and ordered to pay £736 costs.