Soup company fined following serious hand injury

Baxters Food Group was handed a fine recently, following an incident where an employee's hand was seriously injured in a pie machine.

James Vann, 28, received a puncture wound in his right hand, flattened knuckles and fractured bones, following the accident on 13th March 2015.

The worker had been asked to clear a blockage in a machine used to seal lids onto the packaging of Fray Bentos puddings and pies. As he started to clear the blockage, another employee commenced checks and switched the machine on. Although there is an alarm that sounds for three seconds before the machine activates, it hadn't been working for a number of months before the incident took place. Elgin Sheriff Court heard that an improvement notice had been served by the Health and Safety Executive 12 months earlier, yet no action had been taken.

According to a spokesperson for HSE, the incident could have been avoided by a number of measures being implemented. The spokesperson stated that if the improvement notice had been complied with, the accident would not have occurred.

Baxters admitted to failing to ensure the safety of Vann, along with not providing the information and training to its workers to ensure safety. Ron David, the chief operating officer at Baxters, said that the employee had since returned to work and was being supported by the company, while all safety measures had been put in place. For most companies this will involve training, provision of information, and implementing the use of PPE and other safety measures.