Posted on 29 September 2010

Chicken company fined after worker suffers skin tear

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A chicken company has been fined following workplace accidents in its factory where a worker tore the skin off the back of his hand and another had his hand crushed.

Crown Chicken Ltd, which operates from its premises on the Norfolk/Sussex border, was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £5,500 in costs after admitting four breaches of health and safety law at Thetford Magistrates Court relating to two separate incidents.

The first, in July last year, saw an employee’s glove become caught when he used a carcass de-skinning machine. His hand was pulled onto the cutting blade and the skin from his knuckles to his wrist was torn completely away from the underlying tissue.

A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that the machine did not have adequate guards, there was no emergency stop button and the gloves offered little protection.

Then in December last year another employer severed a finger when his hand was crushed in the lifting mechanism of a forklift truck. The HSE found in this case that the company had not provided a safe way for workers to access the back of the trailers.

HSE Inspector Saffron Turnell said: “The company failed to ensure that simple measures were in place to protect employees using the de-skinning machine. Similarly, the company had no safe method for staff to access the refrigerated trailers. Employers must ensure that appropriate health and safety measures are in place and that appropriate equipment is used. HSE will not hesitate to take action against employers failing to comply with the law and putting workers at risk.”