Brighton firm fined after teenager injured by meat mincer

A Brighton-based meat processing company has been fined after a 16-year-old trainee suffered severe injuries to his arm in a meat mincer.

The teenager suffered extensive bone damage and has lost movement in two fingers since the gruesome incident which occurred in August 2009.

The teenager’s employer, Malpass Direct Ltd was prosecuted by The Health and Safety Executive for not properly supervising him at its Brighton Meat Market premises in Hollingdean. The firm pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1988 and was fined a total of £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,005.20.

The trainee, who does not want to be named, was working alone when machine used to make sausage mix jammed. The trainee lifted the hopper lid to remove the blockage but his left arm became trapped and despite being able to free his arm he suffered extensive injuries that have since prevented him from undertaking a training course.

It was found that the trainee was not supervised adequately due to staff absences, while the company regularly disabled a safety lock to enable ingredients to be poured into the mixer faster. The company received an additional fine for this offence.

HSE’s inspector Graham Goodenough said: “This incident was completely avoidable and has left a young man with permanent injuries. The level of supervision Malpass Direct Ltd offered in this instance was unacceptable and the company could have taken simple measures to prevent unsupervised use of the mincing machine by this trainee.

“Malpass Direct Ltd could also have easily modified the mincer so it could be used to make the sausage mix without overriding the interlock. The HSE will take robust enforcement action against any company found defeating safety interlocks.”

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Tags: Brighton Meat Market, The Health and Safety Executive