GE Aviation employee injured after finger stuck in drill in Hamble

Dean Williams, an aircraft fitter, was working a night shift at GE Aviation’s base in Hamble-le-Rice when the horrific incident happened.

He had been putting holes into an aircraft frame and using a drill bush to keep the equipment in place, a court heard.

But when the frame moved, he used his finger to keep the drill stable, catching the fabric from his glove in the equipment.

His hand was pulled into the machine damaging the tendons in his hand.

Southampton Magistrates’ Court was told there had been no emergency stop, meaning ran for 10 seconds after his hand was caught.

GE Aviation, a global company, pleaded guilty to three charges of breaching health and safety law after the incident on November 3, 2019.

In a statement from Dean read out in court, he said he now struggles to grip things and can't ride his motorbike for more than half an hour without his hand aching. 

He added that it has "knocked his confidence".

A Health and Safety Executive solicitor said the firm fell “way short" of where it should have been and the equipment had not been properly risk assessed or maintained.

He added that employees shouldn’t have been wearing gloves whilst operating this drill.

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However, Lucas Rootman, a solicitor representing GE Aviation, said his client incorporated 60 years ago and maintained a clean health and safety record.

He said: “The company takes this incredibly seriously. From the beginning to today and throughout, very senior people in the company have shown a personal interest in this.

“They understand this is incredibly serious. The company profoundly regrets this incident.”

He accepted that information given to employees was “lacking” adding that it “got it wrong on this occasion”.

The court was told Mr Williams was trained for eight weeks before he was signed off to use the drill.

Southampton Magistrates' Court.

GE Aviation supported him after the incident, Mr Rootman added.

District Judge Peter Greenfield said: “It looks for me that there was a creeping issue in that workshop with them trying to cut corners.”

He described the company as one “that clearly takes its health and safety issues very seriously”.

“It is not a case where there is no process at all. In fact, this company had a lot of health and safety procedures in place.

“I’m satisfied they did all they could since this event happened to make sure it doesn’t happen to any other employees,” Judge Greenfield said.

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GE Aviation was fined £76,000 and ordered to pay court costs of £10,525.

It must also pay a surcharge of £2,000.

Flight Global reported that GE Aviation turned over a $2.9 billion profit in 2021, more than double its 2020 earnings.

In a statement, the company said: “GE is extremely sorry that this accident happened.

“The health and safety of our employees and products is always our top priority.

“GE cooperated fully with the UK Health and Safety Executive on this incident and had made all the necessary modifications throughout its business, even before any investigation by the HSE took place.

“GE sold the Hamble facility to Aernova in January 2020.”

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