A frozen food company has been fined £700,000 after an employee lost two of his fingers following an incident at the firm’s premises in Lincolnshire.
Tom Matthews, from Grantham, now champions health and safety in his current job at a different company, warning others to avoid his misfortune.
He had been working a night shift at McCain Foods’ site in Easton on 2 September 2019 when he suffered serious injuries to his left hand.
While cleaning the company’s batter system machinery, the 33-year-old had attempted to remove string dangling from a chute when his left hand was drawn in and contacted the machine’s rotary valve.
The index and middle finger were later amputated as a result of the incident.
Tom Matthews, a father-of-two said: “The last four years have been hard and an ongoing struggle both physically and mentally.
“I still have circulation problems in my left hand following the incident that should never have happened.
“While I’m currently working, my new role is with the health and safety team at a different company as I want to use my story as an example to others and make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.”
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that McCain Foods had failed to provide appropriate guarding to prevent access to the dangerous parts of machinery, namely the rotary valve. It had not conducted an adequate risk assessment of the batter machine and had not provided employees with adequate health and safety training or supervision.
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