Man's fingers severed at Telford factory

Date:

6 June 2011

Release No:

WM437/11

A food manufacturer has been fined after a cleaner lost two fingers in a potato processing machine at its Telford site.

The 38-year-old man was reaching inside an outlet pipe to remove a piece of raw potato at Swancote Foods' Horton Wood premises on 15 February 2010 when he touched a rotating screw, which severed the first two fingers on his left hand.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the incident found the guard on the machine had not been maintained properly.

Swancote Foods, of Floods Ferry Road, Doddington, March, Cambridgeshire, which supplies cooked potato ingredients to manufacturers of prepared foods, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £5,614 costs by Telford Magistrates' Court today.

The employee has returned to work at the factory, but to a different job and suffers restricted movement and reduced grip in his hand, which means that everyday tasks are difficult for him.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Lyn Mizen said:

"This was a very serious incident, which was entirely preventable. As a result of Swancote Foods' failings, a man has suffered permanent, life-changing injuries to his hand.

"Companies must ensure that they have robust procedures in place to provide and maintain suitable, effective guarding.

"This case illustrates the consequences of failing to manage and control workplace risks adequately and HSE will not hesitate to hold companies to account for failing in their duties in such a way."

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce 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. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states: "Every employer shall ensure that measures are taken to prevent access to any dangerous part of machinery."

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