In the wake of one man losing his hand at a West Midlands food processing firm, the factory worker may be considering making a work accident claim against his employer.
The West Bromwich based 2 Sisters Food Group was recently investigated by the Government’s Health and Safety Executive due to the man’s injuries, as well as the injuries suffered by another employee that occurred as well, according to accident claim experts familiar with the case. In the most recent incident, Shaun Alexander, the forty two year old supervisor who lost his hand during a recent night shift, was cleaning machinery at the manufacturing plant when his hand was drawn in between two rotating pieces of machinery, which crushed it badly, according to his personal injury claims.
The HSE later found that Mr Alexander’s injuries were a result of the removal of a safety guard which had been designed to limit the exposure of workers to moving machinery. Meanwhile, in a second incident, Lowestoft native and forklift truck driver Malcolm Raven, suffered a broken arm while the fifty four year old had been in the food processing company’s chicken enclosure as he attempted to clear a blockage.
The HSE investigated the second incident as well, discovering that the firm had had a by-pass device fitted in order to override a safety feature that had been expressly designed to protect against such an accident. As a result of the efforts of HSE investigators, the 2 Sisters Food Group was brought before Norwich Crown Court where it entered a plea of builty for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act twice, earning it a £230,000 fine and court costs of £24,350 in total.