Manufacturing and engineering

A chemical company has been fined £480,000 after one of its workers sustained superficial burns at its Hull factory. Flammable vapours ignited at Robert McBride’s site, a Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) lower tier establishment, and engulfed the worker’s upper torso.

Food manufacturer Bakkavor has been fined £130,000 after one of its employees suffered two broken ribs having been crushed within an industrial cooking machine while attempting to clear a blocked water inlet.

Food manufacturing company AH Worth was recently fined £300,000 for exposing workers to sulphur dioxide gas, causing life-changing injuries.

An engineering company has been fined £62,334 after one of its employees suffered scalping injuries when her hair became entangled in a pillar drill, despite the company’s own risk assessment identifying that a guard should be fitted.

A wood working company and its director have both been sentenced after failing to assess and control the risks associated with asbestos materials on the firm’s premises.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is calling for a legal duty on employers to protect workers from heat-related risk after the Met Office issued its first ever extreme heat warning in July.

Andy Meade, an engineer for more than 30 years, believed the power was cut to the machine he was servicing when he suffered a fatal electric shock.

Construction giant BAM Nuttall has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after an employee was run over by a dumper vehicle.

Kepak Group Ltd (formally 2 Sisters Red Meat Ltd), has been fined after a worker was seriously injured when he was struck from behind by a forklift truck and trapped beneath the metal container it was carrying.

An automotive company has been sentenced after an employee developed an allergic form of dermatitis after he was splashed by metalworking fluids.