Firm fined as worker loses fingers
06/08/2010
A leading food manufacturer has been fined £10,000 after an employee lost two fingers in a work accident.
The woman, working for McVities manufacturer United Biscuits (UK) Ltd, lost two fingers off her right hand while trying to clear a blockage in an industrial-sized mixer, used to combine ingredients for flapjacks.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought the case before Halifax magistrates, found the worker had to climb a 2m fixed step ladder to reach the machine, empty the mixture, and restart it.
The mixer had stopped but the blades inside were still rotating and her fingers were severed as she reached in.
United Biscuits (UK) Ltd admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 after the incident at the McVities Cake Company on Hopwood Lane, Halifax.
In addition to the £10,000 fine, the company was also ordered to pay £2,889 in costs.
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