A well known dried fruit, home baking and snack products company has been fined £8,000 after a worker lost part of a finger in a blade accident.
The employee was trying to clear a blockage in machinery at Whitworths Ltd, of Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire when the incident happened in October 2014.
However, her right hand came into contact with some rotating blades, cutting off part of her finger.
Northampton Magistrates’ Court fined the company £8,000 and ordered it to pay £1,653 costs after it admitted breaching the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
The case was brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
“Had the company ensured access to the dangerous moving parts of the rotary valve was prevented, by ensuring the length of the pipe complied with British Standards, then this young woman would not have lost the top of one of her fingers,” said HSE inspector Michelle Morrison.
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