McCain Foods fined £700k after employee loses fingers in machine

McCain Foods has been fined £700,000 after one of its employees lost two of his fingers following an incident at the firm’s premises in Lincolnshire.

Tom Matthews from Grantham had been working a night shift at the food company’s site in Easton on September 2, 2019, when he suffered serious injuries to his left hand.

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, the HSE said.