Vitacress has been fined after an employee lost the tips of two fingers in a bagging machine.
Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard how the operator of the bagging machine had reached under the guard to pull film through the machine. The heat sealing and cutting jaws of the machine closed on his fingers.
The incident - at the herb and salad giant's Hampshire base - left the worker requiring the tips of his left middle and ring fingers to be amputated.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, which occurred on 21 April 2015, found that the bagging machine had a hole cut in the interlocked guards to allow larger bags of salad out of the machine on a conveyor.
This also meant that access to the heat sealing and cutting jaws was possible.
Vitacress Salads, of Lower Link St Mary Bourne, Andover, Hampshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER), and was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,088.
HSE inspector Kate Clark said after the hearing: “Cutting a hole in the guards led to access to dangerous parts being possible. The company had not properly considered the risks from making this alteration.”
Chris Hall, MD of Vitacress' salads business, told FPJ that the company has a 'stringent' health and safety policy in place, and added that it launched a 'full and frank' internal investigation into the incident, which culminated in Vitacress recognising their culpability.
Hall said that Vitacress helped the employee return to work within two months, and he was back to full-time hours shortly after that.
He added: 'We believe that the fine is a balance of recognising the breach but realising that we otherwise have a stringent health and safety plan in place to protect our employees.'
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