A worker at McVities manufacturer United Biscuits lost two of
her fingers in a mixing machine because her employer failed to
ensure her safety.
Magistrates in Halifax were told the
work accident occurred when the employee was trying to unblock
an industrial mixer, used to prepare ingredients to make
flapjacks.
She had to climb two metres up a fixed ladder just to reach the
mixer to empty the ingredients inside it. Although the machine had
stopped, its blades were still turning and when the worker reached
inside the machine her fingers were sliced off.
United was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive. It
received a fine of £10,000 and told to pay prosecution costs of
£2,889 for breaking section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work
Act 1974.
The accident happened at McVities Cake Company factory in
Hopwood Lane, Halifax, in April last year.