An owner of a Hampshire-based bakery has been prosecuted and fined after an employee suffered injuries from operating a dough moulder with no guarding.
Fifty-eight-year-old Peter Ellis, owner of Belinda’s Bakery in Poulner, was found guilty at Southampton Magistrates’ Court after an unnamed teacher crushed his fingers on his right hand in the machinery in an incident on 30 November 2010.
In a Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigation, the dough moulder, which comprises two powered running rollers to drive dough through the machine and mould it to the correct shape and size, had no guarding fitted.
Ellis, who has worked for Tesco bakery and studied at the Royal College of Bakers, was faced with a £500 fine and ordered to pay costs of £300. He was convicted of breaching Regulation 11(1)(a) of Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 at Southampton Magistrates’ Court.
Craig Varian, the HSE’s inspector, said: “The risks from these types of machines are well-known in the industry and this incident could have resulted in far worse injuries. Immediately following the incident, Mr Ellis installed a guard which cuts the power to the machine, but had the guarding been in place, the employee would not have been able to have accessed the dangerous parts of the machinery and we would not be in court today.”
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