THE owners of a quarry near Bromsgrove have been fined £30,000 after a worker's hand was partially 'degloved' by a piece of machinery.

The employee suffered a chipped bone in his wrist, with skin torn from his right hand, while cleaning a conveyor belt at Wildmoor Quarry in April 2016.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Wildmoor Quarry Products Ltd had failed to adequately manage the risk of workers being injured when operating machinery.

Redditch Magistrates Court also heard how guarding was unsuitable to prevent people from accessing dangerous parts of machinery.

The company, which is based in Telford, pleaded guilty to Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £30,000 plus £11,174 in costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE quarries inspector Catherine Pickett said: "This incident could so easily have been avoided by the company if it had provided adequate training and put in place safe working practices for cleaning and maintaining conveyor belts.

“Duty holders have the responsibility to ensure all dangerous machinery has the appropriate level of guarding to enable safe operation and maintenance, including cleaning operations.”

Wildmoor Quarry Products Ltd has been approached for a comment.