A food manufacturer has been fined more than half a million pounds after three employees suffered serious injuries in incidents involving machinery.
David Wood Baking Ltd has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The incidents took place between June and December 2022.
On June 25, 2022, a woman’s arm was drawn into a conveyor belt at the company’s site on Lyon Street in Kearsley.
As a result, she suffered two open fractures and permanent nerve damage in the hand.
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She underwent three operations and the insertion of two metal plates to repair the damage.
On July 20, 2022, a man working at the company’s site in Sidney Street, Bolton, was injured after becoming trapped in a mechanical mixer.
He was attempting to repair the machine when the lid dropped onto his left arm.
Neither the supervisor or manager on call were contactable and the employee was stuck in the machine for around 90 minutes, eventually being freed by the fire brigade.
The man suffered an open fracture to the arm as well as other fractures and nerve damage in the left forearm.
On December 4, 2022, also at the Kearsley site, a woman had a finger severed after her hand became entangled in an unguarded drive belt on a machine she was operating.
She was also left with ongoing nerve damage to the hand.
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Manchester Magistrates Court heard that the company had a history of poor machinery guarding practice and had previously been convicted and fined £858,000 following an incident in 2021, where a 26-year-old employee had to have his right arm surgically removed following an incident with a piece of machinery.
The HSE investigation into the 2022 incidents found the company failed to keep employees safe from risks posed by food manufacturing machinery, and that training was inadequate and monitoring insufficient to rectify issues.
David Wood Baking Limited, of Calverley Road, Oulton, Leeds, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
The company was fined £573,344 and was ordered to pay £12,288 costs at a hearing on 19 December 2024 at Manchester Magistrates’ Court.
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After the hearing, HSE inspector Jennifer French said: “This company failed to keep employees safe from risks posed by food manufacturing machinery.
“The training was inadequate and the monitoring insufficient to rectify issues.
“It is important for industries to understand the potential dangers arising from the use of, or working near, dangerous machinery.
“HSE will always be prepared to use appropriate enforcement when companies fall short of their duties and responsibilities.”
The prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Iain Jordan.
The company has been contacted for a comment.