A grandfather saved his own dismembered hand after it was cut in an industrial accident by carrying it to medics.
Christopher Wright, 59, had the leg placed in a suitcase for transport to the hospital, where an 11-hour operation reattached it.
Due to a violation of Health and Safety standards, his employers were fined £115,000 and his hand agony was exposed.
Christopher has been left with permanent discomfort despite having his hand reattached, and he struggles to hold his granddaughter.
Christopher, an engineer working in a packaging industry, had his hand pushed inside a machine.
Two years ago, Christopher was employed for Riftward Limited, trading as Playford Packaging, in Wrexham when the accident occurred.
Christopher Wright, 59 (shown with wife Elaine), lost a hand in a workplace accident after he was dragged into a machine he was operating; his business has been fined £115k.
He stated, “It has affected every aspect of my daily life.” I cannot return to being an engineer or an engineering manager because I can only type with one finger. I’m currently unwell.
“The impacts are life-altering; I’m in constant pain, and touching anything aches.” It is not something that improves over time. I am unable to dress myself properly, as I cannot zip my jacket or tie my shoes.
My wife had to quit her job in order to care for me. Now that I have a three-year-old granddaughter, I can’t even pick her up to cuddle her.
Christopher’s hand became stuck when he was repairing the machine.
“Everything transpired extremely rapidly. I thought “my hand had disappeared” I clutched my wrist, yelled for help, and fell to the ground,’ he explained.
Christopher was employed at Riftward Limited, doing business as Playford Packaging, which was fined £115,000 for violating health and safety rules.
An inquiry by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that the company’s risk assessment was neither suitable nor enough, as it failed to account for the dangers posed by the machine’s use and maintenance.
There was no safe work strategy in place to ensure safe isolation and access for maintenance jobs.
Mr. Wright was brought to the hospital, where an 11-hour operation reattached his hand.
It was also discovered that it was normal practice for people to bypass a gate that separated them from the machine and to stand within the enclosed area when the machine was in operation, indicating inadequate monitoring.
The HSE stated that personnel had not been instructed on how to safely isolate the machine.
September 14 at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court, Riftward Packaging pleaded guilty to violating health and safety laws and was fined £115,000, ordered to pay costs of £5,308 and assessed a victim penalty of £190.
Christopher had spent 18 months at the packaging manufacturer.
The narrator stated, “We’d had problems with the belts a number of times, and this was no different from the tasks I performed every week.”
The machines are surrounded by guards; this is a barrier to prevent entry. We had unlocked the door and entered. I was standing between the machine’s two arms. I had done so numerous times.
I instructed the operator to start the machine since you needed to have it up and running as soon as possible.
“The chain wrapped around my sleeve. The individual on the opposite side of the conveyor dragged me from underneath the device.
Mr. Wright states that the accident has altered his life, as he is in discomfort and cannot bend his fingers.
They applied a tourniquet to my arm and tightened it with a screw. My hand was removed from the machine and transported to the hospital in a bag.
The Welsh Air Ambulance transported him to a hospital in Stoke, and from there he was moved to the Pulvertaft Hand Centre at the Royal Derby Hospital, where surgeons reattached his hand.
Mr. Wright stated, “Now that I have some feeling in my hand, my thumb and fingers wiggle somewhat, but I cannot grasp anything. No bend exists in my fingers.
My hand is extremely sensitive; if anything is somewhat warm, it feels scalding hot, and if it is just cool, it feels icy cold.
Mr. Wright stated that it was quite evident how disastrous the consequences of failure to comply with regulations may be.
It was their disregard for health and safety, he continued, that made him enraged.
Companies must adhere to health and safety regulations; they must be adhered to and followed. People’s lives are at stake if firms do not adhere to them.
“The price is not justified. If there had been a solid health and safety policy that was followed, I would not be in the position I am in now.
Sarah Baldwin-Jones, an HSE inspector, stated after the incident, ‘Those in charge of work have a responsibility to create safe methods of work and to offer their employees with the appropriate information, instruction, and training in this safe system of work.
If a sufficiently safe system of work had been in place prior to the incident, the employee’s life-altering injuries could have been avoided.