David Wood Baking has been fined £333,333 after an employee’s arm was broken in an incident at its Sheerness site in Kent.
The Leeds-headquartered own-label bakery supplier was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following an investigation into the incident, which occurred on 1 December 2023.
Sheerness worker Ribeca Jesuthasan was said to have been cleaning a sausage roll line when her hand passed through an unguarded conveyor roller. Although it had initially been switched off, the line began operating again while she was cleaning which pulled her arm into the rotating roller, causing multiple fractures.
A similar incident happened at the same site in 2021, which resulted in a worker requiring his right arm to be amputated, with David Woods Baking subsequently fined £858k. The company also received a fine of more than £573k relating to three separate incidents that occurred at two of its sites in Bolton during 2022.
In the latest case against David Wood Baking, HSE found it had failed to prevent access to the rotating parts of the sausage roll conveyor line in Sheerness.
David Wood Baking pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 during a hearing on 1 September at Medway Court. It was fined £333,333 and ordered to pay £7,644 in costs.
Karen Wood, director of David Wood Baking, described the incident as “a serious matter” and that “thoughts remain with the colleague involved”.
She said that, since the event occurred in 2023, the business had made significant investments and improvements in its health and safety management systems, engineering standards, governance, training, and leadership. ”While no organisation ever wants to be in this position, the improvements recognised during the court proceedings demonstrate our commitment to learning from the past and ensuring the highest possible standards of safety for our colleagues going forward,” added Wood.
HSE inspector Delcina Burden noted that if simple measures had been taken, the incident could have been avoided. “The sentence handed down by the court in this case should demonstrate that the courts and HSE take breaches of health and safety law seriously. We will not hesitate to take action against companies that fail to do all they can to keep people safe,” she commented.
The workplace safety regulator noted that employers have a legal duty to take effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery. This will normally involve the use of fixed guarding or, where routine access is required, interlocked guards to prevent dangerous parts moving before a person can reach the danger zone.
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