Chocolate maker to pay £8,000 after severed finger

Kettering magistrates heard that Ashbury Chocolates’ worker Joao Countinho was cleaning a depositor – a machine which pipes liquid chocolate into moulds – when the accident took place on February 29 2012.

His finger had to be amputated in hospital after it became partially severed when he reached into a cavity stirrer to check if it was clean. Although he had removed the rotors, the still-rotating stirrer trapped and partially severed his finger.

Partially severed​

The machine was guarded only partially – with an interlocking guard at the top of the stirrer cavity, but no protective device in place at the bottom – according to a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation.

HSE inspector Michelle Morrison said after the hearing: “This was a serious incident that could have easily been prevented.​

“Ashbury Chocolates had a duty to ensure its employees were protected from the dangerous moving parts of its machines. It failed in that duty. The company has since installed a new guard to prevent a recurrence but it is a pity a man had to suffer a painful injury for that to happen.”​

The 41-year old worker was unable to work for three months but has since returned to his old job.

Ashbury Chocolates of Darwin Road, Willowbrook Industrial Estate, Corby, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,485.