Supplier fined over crushed handA frozen vegetable supplier has been fined over an incident which saw a worker's finger amputated.
The worker was trying to straighten some boxes on an automatic palletising machine when his hand was crushed at Pinguin Food Ltd's site in Boston, Lincolnshire, in February last year.
Pinguin Foods UK Ltd, based on Marsh Lane, Riverside Industrial Estate, pleaded guilty to breaching section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.
The firm was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £3,500 at Boston Magistrates' Court.
Although the machinery had a perspex guard fitted, the worker routinely entered the enclosure while the machinery was running, the court heard.
He caught his fingers between a pallet and the conveyor while behind the guard - amputating his middle finger.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that a number of employees were given interlock parts which enabled them to gain access to the enclosure.
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