A food processing company was sentenced last month after a worker was injured while unblocking a machine on the poultry slaughter line.
Doncaster Magistrates' Court heard that in 2012 an employee of 2 Sisters Food Group Limited was attempting to clear a blockage on a conveying system at its site in Scunthorpe, when he was struck by a large metal stillage.
As a result the employees body was crushed at chest height against the end of the unit. He sustained multiple injuries including several fractured ribs, fractures to his back and a punctured lung.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had failed to identify deficiencies in the guarding on the machine. They also identified that the clearing of blockages was usually carried out while the machine was still in operation.
2 Sisters Food Group Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and were fined £1.4 million with £38,000 in costs.
HSE inspector Kirsty Storey commented that the "employee's life-threatening injuries could easily have been prevented had the company identified the guarding deficiencies and put in place simple measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery".
"This should serve as a lesson to others in the food processing industry about the importance of effectively guarding their machinery to stop others being similarly injured".
