Food manufacturer fined £300k for workplace accident

By Mike Stones

- Last updated on GMT

The manufacturer’s worker suffered ‘life-changing injuries in an accident that could have easily been prevented’, said the HSE
The manufacturer’s worker suffered ‘life-changing injuries in an accident that could have easily been prevented’, said the HSE
Ice cream accompaniment manufacturer Marcantonio Foods has been fined £300,000, after a worker had four fingers amputated while operating a metalworking lathe.

The accident happened when Mark Goodge was using an emery cloth to clean by hand steel shafts on a metal working lathe at the company’s site in Barking, Essex.

After his gloves became entangled in the lathe, Goodge lost four fingers on his right hand, Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told. He also broke several bones in his left arm and dislocated his wrist in the accident, which occurred on October 13 2016.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company failed to ensure the work to clean the metal shafts was carried out safely. The incident was not an isolated incident, the court heard.

Applying emery cloth by hand

The manufacturer’s employees had been applying emery cloth directly by hand on the lathe for several years before the accident.

Commenting after the hearing, HSE inspector Owen Rowley said: “Mr Goodge suffered life-changing injuries in an accident that could have easily been prevented.

‘Life-changing injuries’

“The risks involved with applying emery cloth by hand on metalworking lathes are widely known and Marcantonio Foods Ltd should have done more to ensure that they carried out the work in a safe manner.”

Marcantonio Foods Ltd of Thames Road, Barking, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,571.08.

Last month a north-west bakery was ordered to pay more than £9,000​, after one of its workers suffered serious injuries in an accident with an unguarded food-mixing machine.

Meanwhile, for the latest information on preventing accidents in the workplace, visit the HSE website​.

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