A warning has gone out to public liability insurance holders over the dangers of faulty machinery and the safety of engineers working on them after the prosecution of a firm.
Moy Park, based in Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and to failing to ensure that measures were in place to prevent access to dangerous parts under Section 11(1) of the Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. It was fined a total of £35,000 with costs of £3,115.
Grantham Magistrates Court heard how Michael May was working on an industrial conveyor at the firm's site in Anwick when his arm was crushed, causing him to suffer several fractures in the process.
Judith McNulty Green, Health and Safety Executive inspector, said that faulty machinery can be easily fixed, "but broken bones and torn tendons are not so quickly repaired".
Last year, firms were warned over working with dangerous machinery after Integrated Packaging was fined £1,000 following a worker fracturing his wrist in on a window patcher machine.