A food manufacturing firm has been sentenced after an employee had two fingers severed in a workplace incident.
The worker’s fingers were severed when his hand came into contact with the paddles of a mixing machine, while he was cleaning it at a Greencore Food To Go site.
The issue of access to the dangerous parts of the machine had been raised by a supervisor at the supermarket sandwich and sushi-supplying business in 2013, but the company had failed to take the necessary action. The injured party had not received training on the machine.
The guarding standard of the mixer fell below what is required by law and gave rise to significant risk.
The standards the company needed to apply were widely available, long published and easily understood.
Greencore Food To Go Ltd of Waldentree Lane, Spalding, Lincolnshire admitted breaches of Regulation 11 (1) of the Provision of Use of Work Regulations 1998 and Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act. 1974 on Monday (2 November 2015) at Boston Magistrates’ Court,and was fined £20,000 for each offence and ordered to pay full costs of £1,037.
The prosecution was brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).