A world famous jam-maker has been fined a total of £6,870 after a worker's finger was sliced off by a marmalade machine. Snezana Pavlenkova was trying to unblock an orange peel shredder at Wilkin and Sons, in Tiptree, when the accident happened. Colchester Magistrates' Court heard how the 40 year old machine had repeatedly clogged up on the day in question, and Ms Pavlenkova should have switched the equipment off and lifted a safety guard to clear the blockage. Instead she tried to do it with the machine still running. The blade sliced off her left index finger at the knuckle.
The company said workers were not trained to operate the machine in that way and staff caught doing it would have faced disciplinary action. The Court heard how the machine should have been fitted with a bigger guard, which would have made it impossible to reach inside. In fact, two of the factory's four shredders had been fitted with the larger guards the previous year, and the others were due to be overhauled this year.
The factory admitted breaching health and safety regulations, and bosses at the 123-year-old firm were "devastated" by what had happened and co-operated fully with the investigation. They immediately took the machines out of operation and have since upgraded the equipment and launched a major staff review, which includes all employees sitting safety exams.
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