January 25, 2021
Nestlé UK Ltd has been sentenced for breaching health and safety regulations after an employee was dragged into a machine on the production line at their Albion Mills site in Halifax.
On 13 February 2016, while observing the operation of the After Eight production machine, the technical operator placed his right hand close to a gap in the machine housing. An emery cloth held in his right hand was dragged into the machine taking his arm with it.
The employee was unable to reach any of the emergency stop buttons located around the machine from the position in which he was trapped. He had to be released from the machine by paramedics. He suffered a double compound fracture to his arm, which required surgery.
The HSE’s investigation found the company had failed to prevent access to dangerous moving parts of the machine, namely an ‘in-running nip’. There was a gap large enough to allow access at a belt conveyor entry on the After Eight line.
Nestle UK Ltd of City Place Gatwick pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. They were fined £640,with costs of £26,234.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Jacqueline Ferguson said: “This is a tragic incident that could so easily have been avoided. The risks inherent in failures to properly guard dangerous parts of machinery are well known in industry and to Nestlé.”
This is valid as of 25th January 2021.
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