A biomass company in Glasgow has been fined £129,000 after a worker partially severed three of his fingers in a machinery incident.
The 57-year-old shift operator lost parts of the fingers after coming in contact with moving machinery at SMW Limited’s Daldowie Fuel Plant in Uddingston in June 2023.
The worker, who had 17 years’ experience at the plant, had been clearing a blockage in a rotary lock valve, which contained rotating blades that turn at 25rpm.
As he attempted to clear the blockage, he removed a metal clip and rubber gaiter to gain access to the valve.
This man’s injuries had had a profound impact on his life and were completely preventable
Communication with the control room, which operated the valve remotely, was carried out by hand-held radio.
There was no line of sight between the two areas, and the radios were subject to interference.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the national regulator for workplace health and safety, found that the miscommunication led to the man believing that high-spinning blades had been turned off.
Believing it was safe to do so, he inserted his right hand into the hopper, where it came into contact with the moving blades.
The index, middle and ring fingers of his right hand were all partially severed, and he has not returned to work since the incident.
The HSE investigation found that the while the company had a specific safe system of work in place for clearing blockages on surge hopper rotary lock valves, it had failed to ensure that access to the dangerous parts of the machinery was prevented.
The workplace health and safety regulator said a fixed guard could have reasonably prevented the incident.
SMW Limited, which produces biomass pellets which are used for fuel, pleaded guilty to breaching elements of health and safety legislation.
The company was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £9,000.
HSE inspector Nicola Kerr said: “This man’s injuries had had a profound impact on his life, and were completely preventable.
“Where workers are required to interact with machinery containing dangerous moving parts, employers must ensure that adequate physical safeguards are in place to prevent access to those parts.”
Ms Kerr added: “Relying solely on radio communication to control isolation – particularly where there is no line of sight and interference is possible – is simply not good enough.
“A fixed guard would have been a reasonably practicable measure that could have prevented this incident entirely.”
On behalf of SMW Limited, a spokesperson for Drax Power said: “Sadly, in 2023, a colleague at our former Daldowie site suffered a hand injury in an isolated health and safety incident.
“We recognise the impact this has had. Drax undertook a comprehensive review of the site’s health and safety systems following the incident and implemented a series of improvements.
“The health, safety and wellbeing of our colleagues is our top priority, and we continually review and update our processes to ensure everyone working with us stays safe.”
The Daldowie fuel plant is no longer operated by Drax following a planned transition of ownership to Scottish Water in April 2026, under the terms of a Private Finance Initiative contract. The transfer was unrelated to the incident and subsequent case.