Safety equipment 'cheaper than losing an employee'

Categories: Food Health and Safety |


Safety equipment 'cheaper than losing an employee' The issue of food industry safety has been raised again with the prosecution of a pork production company after a worker sustained serious hand injuries at its factory.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors found the 60-year-old employee had been reaching into a mixing machine that did not contain guards when two of his fingers were severed.

The man had been reaching into the equipment to take out a piece of blue plastic he had spotted, but guards that would have stopped the mixing paddles from turning inside the machine had been removed.

HSE inspector Dr David Lefever commented: "This incident was entirely foreseeable and easily preventable. The risk could have been removed at no cost to the company by removing the access steps and only using the machine for tasks that did not require feeding from the top.

"Unfortunately, a much larger price has been paid, not least by their employee."

Food industry workwear could come in useful for staff working in food production factories, while safety gloves could be worn while using heavy machinery.ADNFCR-1200-ID-800698048-ADNFCR

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