Farming firm in court after worker's hand injured in hop press

Date:

17 March 2011

Release No:

HSE-e-13-11

A farm worker suffered a serious injury when his right hand became trapped in a hop press in Suffolk, a court heard today.

UK Hops Ltd, which grows and harvests hops for the brewing industry, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failing to make sure the machine was properly maintained.

Lowestoft Magistrates' Court heard a 51 year-old farm worker from Thwaite in Suffolk, was working at White House Farm in Sibton near Saxmundham when the incident happened on 24 September 2010.

The farm worker and one of his colleagues were making a bale of hops when the plunger which compresses them shot upwards, trapping his right hand between the plunger and the side of the machine.

He managed to snatch it away but in doing so suffered a serious injury to his right forearm, and tore the muscle away from the base of his right thumb.

The employee spent two weeks in hospital and has had three operations to try and repair the damage. He required a skin graft and is unlikely to ever regain full use of his right hand.

The HSE investigation found that the machine had not been adequately maintained and in particular the controls which operated it were not working properly.

UK Hops Ltd, of Park Lane Farm in Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire admitted breaching Regulation 5 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to ensure the safety of its employees. The company was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £4,019.55 costs as well as a £15 victim surcharge.

Ivan Brooke, the investigating inspector at HSE, said:

"This was a serious and entirely preventable incident that left a worker with an injury which is likely to affect him for the rest of his life.

"Hop presses have the potential to be very dangerous if they're not maintained properly, and UK Hops Ltd should have made sure this employee was not put at risk.

"The case clearly demonstrates the importance of employers maintaining their equipment to ensure it is safe for their employees to use."

The latest statistics for the East of England show that two people were killed and there were 90 major injuries in the agricultural sector last year. Information on preventing injuries is available at www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture.

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement.
2. Regulation 5 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states: "Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair."

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