A Leicestershire company has been fined £3,500 after a farm worker’s hand became trapped in a press and was seriously injured.
The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted UK Hops Ltd, which grows and harvests hops for the brewing industry, following the incident on 24 September 2010.
Lowestoft Magistrates’ Court heard that the farm worker, aged 51, from Thwaite in Suffolk, was working at a farm near Saxmundham when he was injured.
With a colleague, the worker was making a bale of hops when the plunger which compresses them shot up and trapped his hand. He managed to pull back his hand but suffered a serious injury to his right forearm, and tore the muscle away from the base of his right thumb, resulting in a two-week stay in hospital and three operations.
An investigation following the incident found that the controls to operate the machine were not working properly, and that the equipment was not sufficiently maintained.
UK Hops Ltd, of Park Lane Farm in Sutton Bonington, admitted breaching Regulation 5 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to ensure the safety of its employees. The company was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £4,019.55 costs as well as a £15 victim surcharge.
Medico-Legal News Source: Claims Management Magazine
