Food firm fined £10,000 over worker’s injury

A FOOD processing company has been fined £10,000 after a worker at its plant in Wigan suffered serious injuries to her arm.

The employee, who has asked not to be named, needed a metal plate in her left arm after it became caught in a potato blanching machine at Bakkavor Foods’ plant on Dobson Park Way in Ince.

The company, which packages salads and fresh vegetables, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failing to ensure the dangerous parts on the machine were guarded.

Trafford Magistrates’ Court heard the 22-year-old hygiene worker from Platt Bridge dislocated her elbow and broke three bones in her arm after it became caught between a conveyor belt and rollers on June 28, 2010. She was off work for eight months.

The investigation found that the machine had been used without a guard for more than a decade, and that the rollers were regularly cleaned while they were still spinning.

Bakkavor Foods pleaded guilty to a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations. The company was also ordered to pay £2,026 in prosecution costs.

THE HSE’s investigating inspector, Helen Mansfield, said: “A young worker has suffered a life-long injury that could easily have been prevented if Bakkavor had put more thought into the safety of its employees.

“Sadly, the machine had been operated without a guard for more than ten years, making it almost inevitable that someone would be injured if they came into contact with the dangerous moving parts.

“The company has now installed a simple mesh guard over the rollers which means they can be cleaned without the risk of workers’ arms being dragged in.”