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A man injured while working with a metal-working tool at an engineering firm says he avoided death by "seconds".
Joshua Halls lacerated his arm after getting caught in a lathe while working at Kent Auto Developments on Romney Marsh.
The 22-year-old says his "whole life has changed" following the accident, which saw the Newchurch-based company slapped with a bill of almost £20,000.
Mr Halls had been using the lathe – a tool that rotates an object at speed – to polish a car's brake drum, when the cloth he was using got snagged in the mechanism.
His arm was pulled into the machine, seriously lacerating it and cutting his neck and face.
"I was lucky that I was not wearing overalls because it was hot," he said.
"If I had been, the sleeves would have got caught and things would have been much worse. I could have lost my arm or died.
"I only had a few seconds, if that, to get myself out of it otherwise it could have killed me."
However, Mr Halls' troubles did not end after the horrifying incident, which saw him needing multiple stitches in his arm.
He says that not only did the company not report the incident to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as required, they also tried to blame him for the incident.
"They were pressuring me to get back into work soon after the incident, and I did because that's what I thought I had to do," he explained.
"It was meant to be light duties but I was doing the same jobs I did before, and it hurt.
"When I complained, I was told that the injury was my fault.
"That was the last day I was in work there. They didn't even report it to HSE - I did."
Following an investigation by the HSE, Kent Auto Developments pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety legislation, as well as to not reporting the injury at the proper time.
At Folkestone Magistrates' Court, the company – based on Brooker Farm – was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay an extra £6,349 in costs.
An HSE report said that similar occurrences across the UK have resulted in serious injuries including severed limbs.
HSE inspector Sam Brown said: “We still see incidents like this, where unsafe work practices with machinery lead to injury, despite the existence of specific guidance published by HSE.
“Workers coming into contact with machinery is the fourth biggest cause of workplace fatalities in Great Britain, with 14 people killed in the year 2020/21.
"More than 50,000 non-fatal injuries were reported by employers in the same year.
“Employers should ensure that measures are taken to prevent workers from sustaining injury, where it is evident that persons are at risk of becoming entangled in machinery.
"It’s important that, when people do get hurt, the relevant authorities are notified so that action can be taken to prevent recurrence.”
Kent Auto Developments was contacted for comment.
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