By Chris Carter, Managing Solicitor · March 2026 · Accident at Work Claims

A metal fabrication company has just been fined £140,000 after a 17-year-old apprentice was injured by an unguarded guillotine in a training workshop. The apprentice was cutting sheet metal as part of their training. Their thumb was crushed by the machine’s clamps.

They were 17 years old. It was a training exercise.

The HSE investigation found a gap in the bed of the guillotine that allowed access to dangerous moving parts. The company had not identified this risk. Even after the injury, they still did not identify it. HSE had to serve a Prohibition Notice before the machine was made safe.

It Wasn’t Just the Guillotine. The Whole Workshop Had Problems.

When HSE inspectors attended the site, they found more than just the guillotine fault. The wider inspection of the Apprentice Training Workshop revealed access to live electrical parts, further unguarded machinery, and failures in the system for inspecting equipment.

This was the room where first-year apprentices learned their trade. Every piece of equipment in it should have been checked, guarded, and maintained to the highest standard. It was not.

The company was fined £140,000 at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court for breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER). That regulation specifically requires employers to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery.

I Was Only a Few Weeks In. Shouldn’t I Have Been More Careful?

No. That is the whole point. You were new. Your employer knew you were new.

That is precisely why the law requires them to do more, not less.

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers must carry out a specific risk assessment for young workers before they start. That assessment must account for their inexperience, their lack of awareness of risks, and the fact that they have not yet developed the instincts that come with years on the job.

In this case, the apprentice made several successful cuts on the guillotine before the injury. The machine looked like it was working. But the gap in the bed was there every time. It was only a matter of time before someone’s hand found it.

I Don’t Want to Wreck My Career Before It’s Even Started

This is the fear that stops more young workers from claiming than anything else. The worry that making a claim will mark you out, damage your reputation, or end your apprenticeship.

Here is what actually happens. A claim is made against your employer’s liability insurance, not against your employer personally. The insurer deals with it.

Your employer cannot legally dismiss you or treat you differently for making a claim. That protection comes from the Employment Rights Act 1996.

And the HSE Principal Inspector who handled this case said it directly: employers must take particular care to keep young people safe. If they failed in that care and you were hurt, you have every right to claim.

What Should I Do If I’ve Been Hurt as an Apprentice or Young Worker?

If you have been injured at work during an apprenticeship or in the early stages of a new job, the most important thing is to get the facts down while they are fresh.

Was the machine guarded? Were you trained on that specific piece of equipment? Were you supervised? Was there a risk assessment that covered young workers?

If the answer to any of those is no, your employer has a case to answer.

You have three years from the date of injury to bring a claim under the Limitation Act 1980. If you were under 18 when injured, the three-year clock does not start until your 18th birthday, giving you until age 21. Talk to a solicitor who handles accident at work claims and get a proper answer about where you stand.