Food Firm Fined $1.8M After Worker Crushed by EquipmentFood Firm Fined $1.8M After Worker Crushed by Equipment

April 1, 2019

2 Min Read
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Food manufacturer 2 Sisters Food Group was sentenced to pay a fine totaling £1.4 million (about $1.8 million) after a worker was hurt while clearing a blockage in a machine on a poultry slaughtering line at the firm’s facility in Scunthorpe, England, Great Britain’s occupational safety regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), announced in a release.

While unblocking the machine on Sept. 6, 2012, the employee was hit by a large metal stillage and crushed against the end of the equipment. The worker suffered a number of injuries, including fractured ribs, fractures to their back, and a punctured lung. 

HSE investigators responded to the site and determined that 2 Sisters failed to identify deficiencies on the guarding of the equipment and that blockages were typically cleared on the machine as it was running. 

“This employee’s life-threatening injuries could easily have been prevented had the company identified the guarding deficiencies and put in place simple measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery,” HSE Inspector Kristy Storer said in a statement. “This should serve as a lesson to others in the food processing industry about the importance of effectively guarding their machinery to stop others being similarly injured.”

The company pleaded guilty to charges of violating Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. In addition to the fine, 2 Sisters was also ordered to pay £38,000 in court costs. 

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