Food and drinks manufacturer Nestle has been fined £800,000 after a maintenance worker suffered life-changing injuries when he was drawn into a roller mechanism on a conveyor machine at its factory in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard how the maintenance technician was investigating a problem on the conveyor belt of a machine used to make chocolate sweets when the incident happened on 30 November, 2020.
While checking the machine, his sleeve was caught in a roller, which dragged his left arm into the machine, trapping it between the roller and a conveyor belt.
A Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the incident found that Nestle had not properly assessed the risk created by the rollers under the conveyor belt and failed to guard the roller, which was a dangerous part.
It was foreseeable that employees would require access to this area and there was a clear risk of injury to employees coming into contact with this roller, the investigation established. Nestle had previously been prosecuted following a similar incident at its Halifax factory.
Nestle UK pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £800,000, ordered to pay costs of £7776.50 and a victim surcharge of £190.
After the hearing, HSE inspector William Gilroy said: “This incident could easily have been avoided had Nestle properly reviewed the safety measures at its plant and its equipment to ensure that access to dangerous parts was prevented.
“Nestle were aware of this risk following a similar incident at its Halifax plant but failed to take appropriate action.”