A Kelso-based company has been fined ?16,750 after a worker suffered a traumatic amputation of his right arm, public liability insurance holders have been told.
John Hogarth, based at Kelso Mills, pleaded guilty to beaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The firm was originally due to be fined ?25,000, but this was reduced to take account of its guilty plea.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard how an employee was attempting to clean a rotary valve four metres above the ground.
He slipped and his arm became entangled in the valve, before it was drawn into the mechanism as it had not been isolated from the electrical supply.
The worker's arm was severed around ten centimetres below the elbow, before they fell around three metres to the floor.
In other news, McVities manufacturer United Biscuits was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after a worker had two fingers sliced off in a mixing machine.