Bernard Matthews fined £400k after worker left paralysed
Colin Frewin was left permanently paralysed and spent six months in hospital following an incident at the company’s Suffolk manufacturing plant.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how 54-year-old Frewin suffered injuries on 28 January 2020 when trying to clean a large screw conveyor used to move poultry turkeys along and chill them.
When attempting to dislodge a turkey stuck at the bottom of the spin chillers, he was drawn into the machine. It was only when a colleague noticed Frewin was missing from the gantry and heard his cries for help the emergency stop was pulled.
Frewin suffered multiple injuries, including a pierced left lung, several broken ribs, four fractured vertebrae and a spinal bleed.
Unsafe system of work
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found an unsafe system of work meant the chillers remained running as Frewin went to dislodge the turkey.
Five months prior to Frewin’s accident another incident involving an employee being pulled into a machine was recorded at Bernard Matthews Suffolk.
On 12 August, a turkey deboning live has shut down after developing a fault, which lead to 34-year-old Adriano Gama – along with the rest of the employees – being moved to a surplus production line to continue the process.
While working on the surplus production line, one of the wings became stuck in the belt under the machine. Gama attempted to push it out of the way, but as he did do, his gloved hand became caught in the exposed sprocket of the conveyer and was drawn into the machine.
He was eventually freed and taken to hospital having suffered a broken arm and severe damage to the muscles in his forearm.
No systems in place
The HSE found that on the day of the incident pre-start checks were only completed on the production lines that were regularly used. When workers were asked to move to the surplus deboning line there was no system in place to ensure that it was checked prior to it being put into operation.
The investigation uncovered that two safety guards had been removed and a team leader responsible for the production lines had verbally reported this issue to the engineering team, but it was not followed up by either party.
Bernard Matthews Food Ltd of Sparrowhawk Road, Halesworth in Suffolk pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay costs of £15,000.
Commenting after the sentencing, HSE Principal Inspector Adam Hills said: “Both incidents could have been avoided – the consequences were devastating for Mr Frewin in particular.
“If Bernard Matthews had acted to identify and manage the risks involved and put a safe system of work in place they could have easily been prevented. Fundamentally, you should not clean a machine while it is running.”
