Timber company fined $69k after employee loses part of finger

File photo / NZ Herald

A timber milling company must pay $69,000 after an employee lost a chunk of his finger in machinery.

Juken New Zealand was fined $57,000 and ordered to pay $12,000 in reparations today after an employee got his finger caught in a timber veneer dryer.

WorkSafe New Zealand said the incident last November led to partial amputation of the man's right index finger.

The company was sentenced today in Masterton District Court for failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employee.

WorkSafe said Juken failed to guard the dryer to stop employees from accessing dangerous parts of the the machine.

WorkSafe chief inspector Keith Stewart said there was a similar accident at Juken in 2012.

"It is critical that companies review health and safety incidents and ensure similar events don't happen again," Mr Stewart said.

"For this type of accident to be repeated indicates a significant failure on behalf of the company to learn from a previous accident."

Juken could not immediately be reached for comment but a company website said Juken employed nearly 900 people at "four modern, efficient and environmentally clean" wood processing mills.

"We believe that a safe and healthy work environment is a basic and essential requirement of being a good employer, and a key ingredient in producing good products," the company added.