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A sausage-making company from Brighton has been fined more than £9,000 after a teenage trainee suffered an accident due to insufficient supervision and safety measures.
The company, Malpass Direct Ltd, was fined after a 16-year-old working at Brighton Meat Market trapped his arm in a mincing machine and suffered severe injuries. He lost the use of two fingers and suffered significant muscle loss, as well as being scarred for life.
The incident occurred when the trainee was using the mincer to make a sausage mix in August 2009. He noticed the machine had jammed, so lifted the lid to identify the blockage. However, his left arm became trapped between the wall of the machine and the paddles.
An investigation into the incident by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the trainee was not supervised by a person with the proper health and safety training whilst using the dangerous machinery. It was also found that the company disabled a safety lock on the machine on a regular basis in order to pour ingredients in at a faster rate.
For these violations of health and safety at work regulations, Brighton Magistrates Court fined Malpass Direct Ltd £5,000 and ordered the company to pay costs of £4,005.