A food manufacturer has been fined more than £500,000 after three workers suffered serious hand and arm injuries when they became trapped in machinery.
David Wood Baking Ltd pleaded guilty to breaches of work equipment regulations at two of its sites in Bolton where the three separate incidents took place. They were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for the safety breaches, which occurred in 2022.
In June of that year, a woman’s arm was drawn into a conveyor belt at the company’s site at Lyon Road, Kearsley. She suffered two open fractures and permanent nerve damage to her hand.
She underwent three operations and the insertion of two metal plates to repair the damage. Just a month later, a man working at the company’s site in Sidney Street, Bolton, was injured after becoming trapped in a mechanical mixer.
He was attempting a repair to the machine when the lid of the mixer dropped onto his left arm. Neither the supervisor or manager on call were contactable and the employee was stuck in the machine for around 90 minutes, eventually being freed by the fire service.
The man suffered an open fracture to the arm as well as other fractures and nerve damage in the left forearm. In December 2022, also at the Kearsley site, a woman had a finger severed after her hand became entangled in an unguarded drive belt on a machine that she was operating.
The company has been fined more than £500,000
She was also left with ongoing nerve damage to the hand. Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard the company had a history of poor machinery guarding practice, having previously been convicted and fined£858,000 following an incident in 2021, where a 26-year-old employee had to have his right arm surgically removed following an incident with a piece of machinery.
The HSE investigation into the 2022 incidents found the company failed to keep employees safe from risks posed by food manufacturing machinery, and that training was inadequate and monitoring insufficient to rectify issues.
David Wood Baking Limited of Calverley Road, Oulton, Leeds, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £573,344 and was ordered to pay £12,288 costs.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Jennifer French said: “This company failed to keep employees safe from risks posed by food manufacturing machinery. The training was inadequate and the monitoring insufficient to rectify issues.
“It is important for industries to understand the potential dangers arising from the use of, or working near, dangerous machinery. “HSE will always be prepared to use appropriate enforcement when companies fall short of their duties and responsibilities.”