Baker Geary fined for covering up injury

Leicestershire baker C Geary & Sons has had to pay out more than £5,000 following an industrial accident in its Ratby factory.The company was...

Leicestershire baker C Geary & Sons has had to pay out more than £5,000 following an industrial accident in its Ratby factory.

The company was fined £3,000 by Hinckley magistrates for falsifying a health and safety report and £1,000 for failing to prevent access to a dangerous machine. It was also ordered to pay £1,182 costs. The company admitted all charges.

The court heard the accident happened as employee Alan Mckenzie "played chicken" with a moving moulding machine as he tried to remove pieces of excess dough. The bakery told the Health & Safety Executive that he had injured his wrist falling off a bike.

The offences came to light when the same employee suffered an almost identical accident some months later.

The court heard that company chairman, Charles Geary, had attempted to keep the matter "in-house"