A food processing company has been fined £20,000 after a worker’s arm was drawn into machinery and seriously injured.
58-year-old Piotr Zielinski from Nottinghamshire was working for the company, Belwood Foods Limited, when his right arm was drawn into a poultry processing machinery while cleaning it.
The incident, which led to Zielinksi’s skin and muscle being removed in his right arm and his wrist being crushed, took place on November 22, 2019, at Belwood Foods’ site at Lowmoor Business Park, Kirkby-in-Ashfield.
Zielinski had been removing debris that was trapped on the hinges of an open access panel door at the base of a hopper machine.
The door had been opened to allow the debris to drain from the auger.
While removing the debris however, the auger was still in operation and caught the worker’s right arm, drawing it into the machine up to the elbow.
‘Easily preventable’
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the access panel door was able to be opened freely whilst the auger was in motion.
There were no controls in place to prevent the panel from being opened while the auger was moving.
It was not locked or interlocked, and there was no safe isolation procedure for this weekly cleaning task.
HSE inspector Lee Greatorex said: “This injury was easily preventable.
“Employers have a responsibility to properly assess the risks from all aspects of their operations, including cleaning and maintenance, and implement effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery.
“HSE will not hesitate to take action against companies which do not do all that they should to keep people safe.”
Belwood Foods Limited, of the Henley Building, Newtown Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (1974).
The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £7,839.21 in costs at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on October 9, 2023.
