Worker’s finger tips sliced off at bakery

A Burnley bakery has been fined £1,000 after a worker had two fingertips cut off in a pasty-making machine.
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Burnley Magistrates’ Court heard the 35-year-old man from Blackburn had been feeding a cheese and onion mixture into the top of the machine, at Tayyabah Bakery Ltd, in Gannow Lane, on September 7th 2012 when his right hand was struck by the pistons.

The bakery was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after an investigation found part of a metal guard had been deliberately removed, allowing employees to add fillings to the machine while it was still operating.

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The company, based at Higher Eanam, Blackburn, was also ordered to pay £5,002 in costs after admitting a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The court was told the employee was off work for almost a year as the pain in his fingers meant he was unable to return to manual work.

The investigation found part of the machine’s guard had been cut away, which meant fillings could be added without the lid of the machine being lifted and the power being cut.

HSE inspector David Myrtle said: “The injuries suffered by the employee have had a significant impact on his life but his injuries could have been even worse. “He could easily have lost all of his fingers.”