A company that grows mushrooms has been fined after an employee’s leg became trapped in a machine and was later amputated.
He was part of a team of three at Howden Enterprises Ltd, trading under the name Hughes Mushrooms, that were cleaning the machine at the firm’s premises in Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, East Yorkshire.
The then 29-year-old climbed onto the machine, which is used to prepare and fill compost in growing trays, to remove the last remaining parts of the compost.
The machine was then turned on, leading to Mr Ilic’s leg being caught by the rotating blades in the mixing axle and becoming trapped.
A HSE investigation into this incident found Howden Enterprises Ltd failed to adequately assess the operation of the filling machine, in particular the cleaning of the machine. The firm failed to ensure there robust isolation and safe operating procedures were in place and followed.
HSE guidance can be found at: Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) (hse.gov.uk)
Howden Enterprises Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £73,333.00 and ordered to pay £7,522.60 in costs at Hull and Holderness Magistrates Court on 10 April 2024.