Health and Safety Failings – Ice cream manufacturer fined after worker loses finger

Ice cream manufacturer fined after worker loses finger

Key Facts: 

• An ice-cream manufacturer’s employee lost a finger after it became trapped in exposed moving machinery.
• The employee had been trying to clean a fruit feeder machine, and did not realise it was still switched on. Unsafe work practices were identified at the company.
• The manufacturer was fined £7,500 and costs of £11,287.22.

The Case:

An HSE investigation was launched into the safety practices of an ice cream manufacturing firm after a worker lost a finger in an incident on 8 August 2013.

On the day of the incident, a 60-year-old worker was asked to clean a fruit feeder machine, ready for the manufacture of the next batch of ice cream. The worker assumed the machine was off and put her hand into the fruit feeder in order to clean it. Her left index finger then became caught in the rotating elements, and was cut off to below the second knuckle.

The HSE identified a number of safety failings of the manufacturer surrounding the incident.

Unsafe work practices were common place with regards to cleaning the machine – a job that was undertaken up to three times a day. To do this, workers were in the habit of removing a covering chute, thereby exposing dangerous moving parts. Employees had been told to switch off the machine before cleaning it, but no other measures were in place to safeguard them. This meant there was a high risk of injury due to human error.

The case was heard at Chester Magistrates’ Court on 26 March 2015, where the manufacturer pleaded guilty to breaching Provision and Use of Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. They were fined £7,500 and costs of £11,287.22.

Since the incident, the ice-cream manufacturer has installed an interlocking device so that power to the machine is cut off automatically when the protective chute is removed.

What the HSE inspector had to say:

Speaking after the hearing the HSE Inspector Lorna Sherlock stated that:

“The fruit feeder needed to be cleaned several times every day so it was almost inevitable that an employee would forget to check it was switched off on one occasion.

Tattenhall Dairy Products should have had suitable guarding or, as a minimum, a robust safe system of work in place to make sure no one was injured but there was none. A worker lost her index finger as a result.

It would have been relatively easy to fit a device to the machine which automatically cut the power when the chute was removed. However, the company waited until after the incident before making this vital safety improvement.”

What the law states:

Regulation 11(1)(b) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states:

“Every employer shall ensure that measures are taken…which are effective to stop the movement of any dangerous part of machinery or rotating stock-bar before any part of a person enters a danger zone.”

Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 states:

“Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work.”

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