Factory worker loses arm after accident (From This Is Cheshire)

Factory worker loses arm after accident

12:01pm Monday 17th September 2007

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HEALTH and Safety officials are investigating an accident which resulted in a worker having his arm amputated.

The 18-year-old was working at Airbags International in Congleton when his arm became trapped in machinery.

He suffered severe cuts, and an ambulance was called to the factory in Viking Way off Clayton Bypass.

The teenager was taken to Macclesfield Hospital, but doctors were unable to save his arm, and he underwent surgery to have it amputated.

An investigation into the accident, which happened at 12.28am on Monday, September 3, has been launched by the Health and Safety Executive.

A spokesman for the HSE said the organisation would be conducting a "rigorous examination of the circumstances surrounding the accident."

He said depending on the outcome of the investigation there were a number of courses of action which could be followed by the HSE, including prosecution.

He said the teenage worker's arm had become trapped in a roller, and as a result of the injuries the arm had been amputated at hospital.

"We received a call to Airbags International to a male in his late teens with his arm trapped in a machine," said a spokesman from North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

"He had severe lacerations to his right arm and back, and was taken to Macclesfield Hospital."

Airbags International produces woven airbags for the car industry, and is one of Congleton's biggest employers.

No-one from the company was available to comment to the Congleton Guardian on the accident or the HSE investigation.

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