A Telford packaging company has been fined £6,000 after an employee's finger tips were sliced off while operating machinery.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Sirane Ltd after worker, Editha Bayliss, had the two digits severed while operating an automatic guillotine.
Telford Magistrates heard that in November last year, Ms Bayliss was operating a guillotine when she put her hand under the guard of the machine to clear a blockage from the cutting area while the machine was still running.
The cutting blade came down before Ms Bayliss' hand was clear, severing the tips of two of her fingers. The fingers were surgically amputated down to the first joint later in hospital.
After the incident, HSE inspectors served Sirane Ltd with a prohibition notice, which required operation of the machinery to stop immediately until it was made safe.
The firm, based at Stafford Park 6, Telford was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £2,083 costs after contravening Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
HSE inspector Katharine Walker said: "This incident was entirely preventable. The company's risk assessment, carried out four months before the incident, had identified the need for improved guarding on this machine.
"However, the company failed to implement this, and knowingly allowed the machine to be used with inadequate safeguards. The poor standard of guarding on this machine led directly to Editha's debilitating injuries."
