AN ENGINEERING company was fined £10,000 yesterday for risking the safety of workers operating power presses.

Safety guards on the 250-ton and 200-ton presses owned by Dong Jin Precision Ltd, on the North-West Industrial Estate in Peterlee, County Durham, were missing when an inspector visited last August, magistrates at Bishop Auckland were told.

Workers operating the machines were in danger of putting their hands inside, said Dr David Shallow, an inspector for the Health and Safety Executive.

Records showed that the guards on one press had been checked only nine times since February, when it should have been checked three times a day. Dr Shallow told the court that the company had been warned about similar breaches of regulations soon after it opened in 1996.

He said: "Until new regulations were introduced, the machines were regarded as one of the most dangerous types of machines found in the workplace.

"Accidents inevitably involved the amputation of fingers or hands, and there have been several fatalities."

He said the guards should have been checked within the first four hours of every shift at the factory, which employs 95 people making parts for microwave ovens.

David Gilliland, in mitigation, said that only the bottom section of the guard had been missing and the main guard was always in place.

The company was fined £5,000 for the most serious offence of failing to ensure the safety of its employees, and £2,500 each for not having guards in place and not ensuring that the guards were checked every shift. There were £852 costs.