A company which processes and distributes meat for retail catering and wholesale sectors has been fined after an employee suffered severe injuries to the fingers of his left hand when they came into contact with a band saw.
Forfar Sheriff Court heard how on May 2013 an employee of Quality Pork Processors Limited, of Brechin, which at the time called A P Jess (Brechin) Limited, was using a band saw which formed part of the machinery for cutting pig carcasses.
The court was told the band saw, which had an exposed blade, was being used as a replacement for the usual saw which was inoperative. The replacement band saw was not fitted to a conveyor to carry the sections of cut meat away from the blade and towards the employee. This meant that the employee’s hands were in close proximity to the exposed cutting blade.
It was during the process of moving the meat that the employee’s fingers came into contact with the band saw.
Quality Pork Processors Limited, of The Abattoir, Montrose Road, Brechin, was fined £28,000, after pleading guilty to an offence under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
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