Carpenter wins compensation after slicing finger with circular saw (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Carpenter wins compensation after slicing finger with circular saw

1:39pm Tuesday 28th August 2012 in News By Lauren May, Chief Reporter

A carpenter who accidentally sliced off part of his finger has won compensation after his employer failed to give him training on how to use an electric saw safely.

Jacek Rozanski, 57, of Bruce Road, Mitcham, had started work at the Rosso Joinery in Battersea just two weeks before the accident, involving a woodcutting machine with a circular blade in July 2010.

He said: "As I began to operate the machine, the fingers on my left hand were pulled into the path of the spinning saw.

"There was blood everywhere.

"I was screaming with pain and gripping my left hand with my right, shouting for help.

"My ring finger was very badly cut, and half the nail was missing.

"I couldn’t move it and I could barely recognise the end of my middle finger.

"It just wouldn’t stop bleeding. The pain was excruciating."

Rosso Joinery settled out of court for £30,000 with Mr Rozanski, who was represented by Fentons Solicitors.

A tribunal heard how Mr Rozanski had received no training on how to use the machine safely and was not aware it was missing a protective guard.    

He was taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting where doctors amputated his middle finger below the nail and pinned his broken ring finger in place.

He said: "I wasn’t able to go back to work for eight weeks and only then on a part-time basis.

"When I did return, I was made redundant less than two months later."

Mr Rozanski later started working for another company in north London but was dismissed after his probationary period.

He said: "It was so frustrating, as even though I’m ambidextrous, my work was a lot slower than it should have been because I have much less grip strength in my left hand, and I still had a lot of pain in my partially amputated middle finger."