A biscuit company has been fined £10,000 after a factory worker’s fingers were sliced off in a flapjack machine.
McVitie’s manufacturer United Biscuits (UK) Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation into the incident on 9 April 2009 at a cake baking site in Halifax. Halifax Magistrates Court heard how the victim, Lesley Armitage, lost two fingers on her right hand when she attempted to clear a blockage in an industrial sized mixer used to combine ingredients for flapjacks.
The HSE’s investigation found the employee had to scale a two metre fixed step ladder in order to reach the machine, empty the mixture inside, and then restart it. Though the mixer had stopped, the blades inside were still rotating and when she reached in, her fingers were severed.
No risk assessment had been carried out for the cleaning procedure, the court heard. Ms Armitage completed training for the task on April 5, 2006, but it had not been validated by an independent assessor before the accident happened.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching its duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after the incident. In addition to the £10,000 fine, the company was also ordered to pay £2,889 in costs. Michael Hafen, for the company, said a thorough investigation was carried out after the accident, risk assessments were reviewed and a new safety system was installed to protect workers.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Rachel Brittain said, "An incident like this should not happen in any company, but taking place in such a large scale food manufacturer such as this is absolutely unacceptable. Preventing access to moving parts and fitting guards is an elementary and essential precautionary measure and inexpensive. By not putting these measures in place United Biscuits failed to fulfil its duty of care to its employees."
