Bakery fined after worker's hand crushed

Yarrows Bakery was today fined $45,000 after an employee's hand was crushed in a pastry-rolling machine.

The Taranaki-based company was also ordered to pay the man $17,146 in reparation.

The accident happened while he was cleaning a machine used to roll blocks of dough into flat sheets. He dropped a tool into a chute which led to a series of moving rollers and as he reached out to grab it his fingers were caught and his hand was pulled in.

He suffered serious damage to his hand and spent a month in hospital, undergoing several operations.

Yarrows was prosecuted under the Health and Safety Employment Act for failing to ensure there was adequate protection for employees and for not having a safe procedure for cleaning the roller equipment.

The company had pleaded guilty prior to its appearance in Hawera District Court today.

Department of Labour New Plymouth service manager Brett Murray said there were "far too many" instances of people being hurt while cleaning or servicing such equipment.

"Employers must have documented procedures to show employees how to do these tasks safely."

He said this case demonstrated how companies could not rely on people's judgment to keep them safe and needed physical barriers such as guardrails to prevent accidents.

"The employee made a bad call when he put his hand into the chute when the rollers were moving. But it was an instinctive reaction to try to retrieve the cleaning scraper."

Yarrows was prosecuted in 2004 when an employee lost the tips of two fingers in a dough cutting machine.

- NZPA