Greencore supplier fined as worker dices fingertips

The employee was feeding peppers into the machine at the Oldfields plant at Twelvetrees Crescent, Bow, east London, which makes sandwiches and paninis for Greencore. When they did not emerge properly from the discharge chute, he pushed his fingers under the chute to dislodge the jam.

But there were rotating blades on the far side of the gap that severed the tips of four fingers on his right hand.

Pleaded guilty​

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Oldfields at Westminster Magistrates Court. The court today (September 30) fined the company £18,000 and ordered it to pay £9,399 in costs after it pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

“The company fell well short of the expected health and safety standards, which is particularly disappointing given that they would be well aware that their industry has one of the highest incident rates in manufacturing,”​ said HSE inspector Tahir Mortusa.