A machinist severed the tip of his finger while working for Standfast Precision Engineering at the company's workshop in Craigellachie, Aberlour, Scotland, the Health and Safety Executive reports (HSE).

The workplace accident took place on 3 May 2013 and was deemed "entirely preventable" by HSE Inspector Penny Falconer following an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident at work.

The man, in his early thirties, was carrying out finishing operations on a component when he sliced the top of his right forefinger off while using a lathe.

The employee had removed the guard shielding the machine in order to complete work on the component.

The company was prosecuted after the HSE investigation found that adequate measures to prevent access to dangerous moving machinery parts were not in place.

Employees were able to disable interlocks put in place to restrict access to the machine while dangerous parts were rotating at high speed.

The HSE also found that while training had been given to the worker and his colleagues, there were no clear guidelines in place in respect of using the interlocks and finishing components.

As a result, the man regularly used the lathe and worked on the component in an unsafe manner and had not been told the practise was dangerous.

All interlocks on machines have since been reattached and repaired.

After pleading guilty to breaching regulations 11(1) and (2) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, the company was fined £6,000.

The worker has since made a full recovery and has returned to work.

It is unknown if he will be pursuing a personal injury compensation claim.