Sweet manufacturer prosecuted after worker’s hand crushed

By Mike Stones

- Last updated on GMT

Food manufacturer told to pay +£6k for accident
A sweet manufacturer has been ordered to pay £6,375 after a worker’s hand was crushed when he tried to clear a jammed machine.

Kettering Magistrates heard that the accident happened at Tilley’s Sweets in Thrapston, Northamptonshire on June 9 2011

The 28 year-old worker, who asked to remain anonymous, was operating the machine when it became jammed.

After he put in his hand into the machine to remove the sweets, which were blocking the mechanism, the glove on his right hand became caught, pulling his hand into the dangerous moving parts.

The worker’s hand was severely damaged and needed several operations to straighten the tendons. He was unable to work for four months and continues to have physiotherapy and has difficulty using his injured hand.

Dangerous parts

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation revealed that Tilley’s Sweets failed to protect the safety of its employees by not preventing access to dangerous parts of machinery. A guard would have prevented the accident, said the HSE.

Speaking after the case, HSE inspector Elizabeth Hornsby said: “This incident was debilitating and traumatic for the employee yet a simple guard would have stopped this from happening.

“Organisations have a duty to protect their workforce and HSE will not hesitate to prosecute those who break the law in this way.”

Tilley’s Sweets of Springfields, Oundle Road, Thrapston pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1988 and was fined £1,500 with costs of £5,175.

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