A regional newspaper group has been fined £3,000  after a Southampton worker was injured when his hand was caught in a rotating printer roller.

The 49-year-old employee suffered crush injuries to his thumb and middle finger as he attempted to remove a small piece of torn paper from the unguarded roller. He has since recovered and returned to work.

The incident, at Newsquest’s plant in Test Lane, Redbridge, Hampshire, on February 6, 2013, was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought the prosecution for safety failings.

Newsquest Media (Southern) Ltd, registered at Weybridge, Surrey, was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £1,560 in costs after admitting a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

Southampton Magistrates’ Court today heard on Friday that the employee and colleagues had been having problems with paper breaking and wrapping itself around ink rollers.

He had cleared most of the paper off, and then put the machine into an 8,000 rotations per hour cycle. However, he noticed a bit of paper still on the roller and tried to brush it off with a piece of cloth. As he did, the cloth was dragged into the nip of the ink roller, injuring his right hand.

The HSE found the employee was able to access the dangerous moving parts because sections of the press machine had been removed when employees were clearing paper from the ink rollers. It was a regular practice of print room staff to deal with paper breaks in this way.

After the case, HSE Inspector, Guy Widdowson, said: “This was an easily preventable incident. If Newsquest had ensured its employees ran the press with the machine rollers not exposed, there would have been no injury. It was only down to luck that an incident had not happened before and also that this injury was not more serious.

“It is critical that companies make sure that effective guards are in place on machinery to protect their employees from dangerous moving parts. If there is a part of a machine that serves another purpose, but is protecting staff from contact regardless, then it needs to be treated as a guard.”