Nottinghamshire food firm fined after worker's arm crushed in machinery

A food processing factory in Nottinghamshire has been fined £20,000 following a "preventable" incident in which a worker's arm was dragged into machinery and partly crushed.

Piotr Zielinski lost skin and muscle when his right arm was caught in poultry processing machinery whilst working for Belwood Foods' site at Lowmoor Business Park in Kirkby-in-Ashfield in November 2019.

The serious injuries required surgery.

Mr Zielinski, 58, from Nottinghamshire, had been removing debris that was trapped on the hinges of an open access panel door at the base of a hopper machine.

The hopper door had been opened to allow the debris to drain from the auger - a rotating metal screw.

However, the auger was still in operation as debris was being removed and caught Mr Zielinski's arm, drawing it into the machine up to the elbow.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the hopper's access panel door could "be opened freely" whilst the auger was moving, and that no controls were in place to prevent it being opened.

In addition it was not locked or interlocked, and there was no safe isolation procedure for the weekly cleaning task.

Belwood Foods Limited, based in Henley-on-Thames, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £7,839.21 in costs at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on 9 October.

HSE inspector Lee Greatorex said: "This injury was easily preventable.

"Employers have a responsibility to properly assess the risks from all aspects of their operations, including cleaning and maintenance, and implement effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery.

"HSE will not hesitate to take action against companies which do not do all that they should to keep people safe."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.