After serious personal injury was suffered by a female employee when her arm was dragged into a potato blanching machine, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted a Wigan food processing company.
The accident occurred when the unnamed twenty two year old from Platt Bridge was employed at Bakkavor Foods Ltd, at their site on Dobson Park Way in Ince, when her arm became caught in-between a roller and a conveyor belt, on the unguarded potato machine.
As a consequence of the accident, the female hygiene worker was kept her away from work for eight months after suffering a dislocated elbow and a broken arm in the incident.
It was revealed by an investigation by the HSE that the machine was not adequately guarded and employees regularly cleaned rollers while they were still rotating.
Consequently, a fine of £10,000 was awarded to Bakkavor Foods Ltd, of West Marsh Road, Spalding, in Lincolnshire. Furthermore, they ordered to pay court costs totalling £2,026, after admitting a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, at Trafford Magistrates’ Court.