22/11/2010 - Food firm fined for blade incident
An international frozen food firm has been fined over an incident when a worker was injured by the moving blades of an industrial freezer.
Thomas Munford, from Bourne, was working a night shift at the PinguinLutosa Foods UK factory in the town in November 2008. As he cleared ice from the inside of the freezer, a colleague turned it on, not realising that he was inside.
The vegetable flow freezer included a large stirrer to distribute the vegetables on to a conveyor. Before he could jump clear, Mr Munford was hit by the blades and suffering severe bruising to his legs.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) probe discovered that the inside of the freezer was dimly lit and once someone was inside it was very difficult to see them due to a mesh grille.
It was also noisy in the freezer, making communication difficult, while both men had already worked an overnight shift for more than eleven hours when the incident happened.
PinguinLutosa Foods UK Ltd, formerly Pinguin Foods UK Ltd, of Scania Way, Kings Lynn, admitted breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3(1)(b) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
The company was fined a total of £4,700 and ordered to pay costs of £2,639 by Spalding Magistrates' Court.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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