Greencore Food To Go has said it “deeply regrets” an incident last April where a worker had two fingers severed by a mixing machine at its Spalding site.
The company was fined more than £40,000 at Boston Magistrates Court on Monday, 2 November for breaches of Regulation 11 of the Provision of Use of Work Regulations 1998 and Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, in connection with the incident.
The Court heard that the employee was cleaning the machine when his hand came into contact with the paddles, severing two fingers on 21 April 2014.
The issue of access to the dangerous parts of the machine had been raised by a supervisor at the site in 2013, but the company had failed to take the necessary action, the Court was told.
The injured worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, had not received training on the machine.
The prosecution was brought by the Health and Safety Executive, which found the guarding standard of the mixer fell below what was required by law and gave rise to significant risk.
The standards that the company needed to apply were widely available, long published and easily understood, it said.
The company was fined £20,000 for each offence and was ordered to pay full costs of £1,037. It also had to pay a victim surcharge of £120.
No compensation was granted by the court because the company had settled this out of court.
A spokesman told British Baker: “Greencore takes the safety and well-being of its people very seriously. We deeply regret the injury sustained by our colleague. We have cooperated fully with the HSE and as a result of the investigation have further strengthened our already robust health and safety procedures.”
Greencore Food to Go manufactures pre-packed sandwiches, wraps, rolls, baguettes, prepared salads and other food products.
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