Thumb amputation costs polytech $10k | Bay of Plenty News | Local News in Bay of Plenty

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic has been ordered to pay $10,000 to a former student who severed his left thumb and suffered nerve and muscle damage to his left palm after using a bench saw at its Windermere campus last year.

Shaun Hardley, 19, was  five weeks into his fulltime  carpentry course when the accident occurred on April 30, 2009, resulting in the amputation and a deep laceration to the left palm.

The Department of Labour investigated and sought a prosecution against the polytechnic under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992.

In Tauranga District Court yesterday,  the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic's legal counsel Mark Beech pleaded guilty on his client's behalf to a breach of the Act relating to its failure to take all practicable steps to ensure that the benchsaw did not cause harm to any student.

The summary of facts reveals that on the day of the accident Mr Hardley was attending a supervised class in the main workshop but in order to complete a concrete float, he went into an adjacent workshop to use the bench saw without his tutor's permission and  failed to tell anyone else.

He did not put the hood guard and riving knife on before using the bench saw, which did not have safety guards on it, and began to rip a piece of timber holding it with his hands instead of using push sticks. He also didn't have a "tail out" person to guide the timber out of the saw.

When the piece of timber kicked back, Mr Hardley tried to grab it and his left hand came into direct contact with the saw blade, resulting in his injuries.

Mr Hardley, whose left thumb was not able to be reattached, spent six days in hospital and  has undergone two surgeries and is due to have another this Friday.

Department of Labour's counsel Terri Thompson told Judge Thomas Ingram that  under the Crown Organisations (Criminal Liability) Act the court was prevented from fining the institution.

She said the polytechnic's offer to pay $10,000 for emotional harm was accepted as appropriate given Mr Hardley's actions in contributing to the accident.

Mr Beech said that since the accident the polytechnic  had put safety measures in place to ensure students did not use the bench saw without permission and  to prevent a similar situation from re-occurring.

That included fixing a central key-locked isolation switch on the emergency stop button   that is only unlocked by a tutor or technician. The court was told  there had never been an incident of this kind in more than 20 years of the carpentry course being taught.

Judge Ingram said the victim impact statement made it clear that the ongoing  effects of the accident were substantial and Mr Hardley's youth and perceived inability to pursue his chosen trade,  contributed to his suffering.

But the judge said he was satisfied that the $10,000 offer was  "fair, proper, adequate and appropriate".
 

The institution was moving promptly to take steps to further improve its safety systems.

Judge Ingram  ordered the $10,000 to be paid in full by July 1.

"It seems that the net result of this accident is that lessons have been learnt by all involved," the judge said.

In statement sent to this newspaper, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic's chief executive Dr Alan Hampton, said he wished to extend the organisation's sympathies to  Mr Hardley and his family.

Mr Hardley's mother Julie Hardley said neither she nor her son wished to comment.