Flour firm fined £300k after worker loses finger

The owner of a flour mill has been fined £300,000 after a maintenance worker's finger was severed by a machine.

The incident happened at ADM Milling on the Earlstrees Industrial Estate in Corby, Northamptonshire, in 2023.

An investigation found the firm had failed to plan and risk assess the job correctly.

The firm pleaded guilty to one count of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was sentenced at Northampton Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought the prosecution, said the incident demonstrated that all maintenance tasks should be "carefully assessed".

David Wood, who was 59 at the time, had been carrying out maintenance work on a packer closing station.

The HSE said: "The 800kg (126 stone) machine became unbalanced and tipped backwards, trapping his left hand.

"This resulted in the little finger on the hand being severed."

The HSE found that the firm "failed to safely manage the risks of people performing maintenance at its factory".

The health and safety legislation requires employers to make sure people working on their site who are not employed by them are not "exposed to risks to their health or safety".

The firm was ordered to pay a total of £309,517.40 in fines and costs.

An HSE spokesperson said: "HSE guidance states that maintenance work needs to be correctly planned and carried out.

"Unsafe maintenance has caused many fatalities and serious injuries, either during the work or as a result of using badly/wrongly maintained machines."

The Workers' Union said: "Health and safety breaches can result in more than financial penalties - they can damage a company's reputation, lower workforce morale and change lives in an instant."

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