Injury highlights need for safety compliance in food sector
February 19th 15:24 Health and Safety
The need to comply with health and safety regulations in the food supply industry has been highlighted by an incident in Bourne.
Following a prosecution from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Bakkavor Food, which supplies a number of supermarket chains, has been fined £3,000 for breaching regulation 11(3) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
The fine follows an incident at the company's Bourne factory, which saw an employee's hand crushed after he tried to remove a blockage in a cabbage shredding machine.
HSE Inspector Jo Anderson said the incident has highlighted the need for compliance regardless of the size of a company.
"Bakkavor is a huge company which employs 20,000 worldwide and 2500 in the UK alone. It is often assumed companies of this size adhere to health and safety policies at all times," he said.
"In this instance, Bakkavor failed to efficiently maintain the protective guards in place to prevent employees accessing dangerous parts of the factory's machinery."
The firm was also ordered to pay £2,000 in court costs by Grantham Magistrates after pleading guilty to the breach.
