David Wood Baking Limited has been fined more than £333,000 after an employee broke her arm when it became trapped in a sausage roll machine at its factory in Dorset Road, Sheerness.
Incident details
Ribeca Jesuthasan was cleaning a sausage roll production line when she put her hand through an unguarded conveyor roller. Although the machine had been switched off, it began to operate while she was cleaning it, and her arm was pulled into the rotating roller, causing multiple fractures and a broken arm.
The accident happened on December 1, 2023, and was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which found the company had failed to prevent access to the rotating parts of the machine.
Court proceedings
David Wood Baking Limited, of Calverley Road, Leeds, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £333,333 and ordered to pay £7,644 in costs at court.
HSE guidance says employers have a legal duty to take effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery, normally involving the use of fixed guarding. Where routine access is required, interlocked guards may be necessary to prevent dangerous parts moving before a person can reach the danger zone.
HSE warning
HSE inspector Delcina Burden said: “Too many workers are seriously injured every year as a result of contact with dangerous parts of machinery due to inadequate or absent guarding.
“If simple measures had been taken, this 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.”
