Fine for bakers after worker loses finger

Jackson's Bakery, a leading supplier of bread used in the commercial making of sandwiches, has been fined after one of its employees lost a finger in machinery at a site in Northamptonshire.

The accident occurred on 2 February 2023, when workers were attempting to maintain a machine by clearing a blockage. A guard was removed on the machine, and as the engineer checked the tension of a drive belt his hand got pulled around the bottom pulley which resulted in the amputation of part of his right middle finger. The engineer did not realise the machine had been switched back on.

An investigation from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found several inadequacies, including failure to:

• ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of all employees;
• implement a safe system of work ensuring that machinery was isolated and then locked off during maintenance work when fixed guards would be removed;
• provide adequate training and instruction for machines as engineers were unclear on when to isolate and 'lock out tag out' machines.

On 3 October 2024, the company was fined £366,666 and was ordered to pay £5,386 costs at a hearing at Wellingborough Magistrates Court.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Rebecca Gibson said:

"This unnecessary incident highlights the duty on employers to ensure that there are robust procedures in place relating to maintenance activities.

"If an appropriate 'lock out tag out' procedure had been produced and implemented and with suitable training, the serious injury would have been avoided."