Company fined over severed hand
16/08/2011
A pork producer has been fined £16,000 after a worker suffered a serious hand injury at its premises.
The 60-year-old, from Branston, Lincolnshire, was working at Tulip Ltd's factory when two of his fingers were severed in an unguarded mixing machine.
He lost the index and middle fingers of his right hand and suffered long-term nerve damage in the December 2009 accident at the firm's Ruskington site.
The man has now returned to work after a 10-month lay off and a number of operations, Grantham Magistrates' Court was told.
A probe by the Health and Safety Executive found that the mixing machine concerned was lacking the same electronically locked gate featured on all the others on the site. The safety gates would have stopped the paddles kicking in as the worker added seasoning to the mix, the investigation found.
The HSE said that the firm had been aware of the missing safety measures since February 2009, when the HSE carried out a visit at the site.
Tulip Ltd, of Warwick Technology Park, Gallows Hill, Warwick, admitted breaching the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. As well as the fine, the firm was ordered to pay costs of £4,076.
Copyright © Press Association 2011