HSE - A photo taken by an HSE investigator of the packer closing machine at ADM Milling's site in Corby following a 2023 incident where a worker lost a finger

Source: Health & Safety Executive

A photo taken by an HSE investigator of the packer closing station at ADM Milling’s site in Corby following a 2023 incident when a maintenance worker lost a finger

Flour supplier ADM Milling has been fined £300k after a maintenance worker severed a finger in machinery at its Corby site.

David Wood, who was 59 at the time of the incident on 28 June 2023, lost the little finger of his left hand whilst carrying out maintenance work on a packer closing station at the milling facility located in Earlstrees Industrial Estate.

According to an investigation conducted by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), the 800kg machine had become unbalanced and tipped backwards, trapping Wood’s hand and resulting in his finger being severed. The national regulator found that the company had failed to safely manage the risks of people performing maintenance at its factory.

ADM Milling was required to fully assess the task that the injured person was assigned to ensure his health and safety was not put at risk, said the HSE, noting its guidance states that maintenance work needs to be correctly planned and carried out. HSE also warned that unsafe maintenance has caused many fatalities and serious injuries, either during the work or as a result of using badly/wrongly maintained machines.

Following the investigation, a prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Samantha Wells and paralegal officer Helen Hugo, with a hearing held at Northampton Magistrates Court on 4 June 2025. ADM Milling plead guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 and was ordered to pay a fine of £300k plus £7,517 in costs.

“This incident was wholly avoidable,” commented HSE inspector Abbey Hodson. “The case should highlight to industry that all maintenance tasks, whether they are planned or unplanned, should be carefully assessed and reviewed to ensure that anyone under their control is protected from harm. Had this task been competently risk assessed, other control measures that prevented this incident would have been identified.”

Prior to the HSE investigation, ADM Milling installed a yellow brace on its packer closing station (see photo above) to help prevent further injuries. In a company statement shared with British Baker, it said it “deeply regretted” the 2023 Corby incident, adding that its aim is for everybody to go home safe and well at the end of each day. 

“We would again like to apologise to our contractor and his family and friends who have been affected by this incident,” it said. “We continue to strive to achieve the very best standards of health and safety and we are thankful to the Judge who recognised that this was an out of character incident, that ADM Milling Limited takes health and safety very seriously and otherwise have a very good record and effective health and safety procedures in place.”

ADM Milling was established in 1999 as the UK arm of global food ingredients manufacturer ADM. The firm currently operates seven sites across the UK including its head office in Chelmsford, Essex as well as in Tilbury, Essex; Avonmouth, Bristol (also home to its technical centre); Corby, Northants; Knottingley, West Yorkshire; Seaforth  Docks, Liverpool; and Edinburgh. 

A raft of bakery accidents

Coincidentally, another worker also suffered a significant hand injury at a Corby manufacturing site just a few months prior to the ADM incident. An unnamed 31-year-old engineer caught his right hand in a flour sifting machine at Jacksons Bakery on 2 February 2023, resulting in him losing part of his middle finger. The bakery supplier was subsequently fined more than £366k

A third hand-related accident later that same year involved yet another male employee severing part of his finger, this time in a dough divider. West Sussex-based Truffles Bakery was fined £12k for the incident, which occured on 20 December 2023. 

Two female workers were involved in separate accidents at the Kearsley site of David Wood Baking during 2022, with both suffering permanent or ongoing damage to their hands. The company was fined a total of more than £573k, which also related to a third incident from that year.