Mid Ulster Butchers Fined £2,500 For Health and Safety Breaches
A Mid Ulster butcher has been fined a total of £2,500 for health and safety breaches which left an employee with life changing injuries.
In a prosecution brought by Mid Ulster District Council, Mr Patrick Traynor, trading as Traynor’s Butchers, pleaded guilty to breaches of health and safety legislation, after an employee suffered serious and life changing injuries while attempting to clear a blockage from a meat mincer machine without a guard which would have prevented him from reaching the dangerous moving parts.
The meat mincer machine was known to be missing its protective guarding for more than five months. Patrick Traynor failed to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk which should have made clear that the machine must not be used if the guarding was defective or missing. He failed to remove the mincer from use until it was suitably repaired and protect the health and safety of his employee.
As a result, the employee suffered an amputation to his left index finger below the first knuckle and left middle finger amputated above the first knuckle.
Speaking on the outcome, Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, Councillor Frances Burton said,
This was a very unfortunate incident for all involved, especially as it could have been foreseen and subsequently prevented and the employee in question would not be left with the life changing injuries he has today. This ruling should go some way in highlighting the importance among butchers and other users of dangerous equipment, of the importance of ensuring protective guards are in place. However, this outcome will not reverse the life changing injuries with which this person has been left, and my thoughts today are very much with him and his family.
Environmental Health Officers will continue to raise awareness of and assess compliance with equipment safety during their routine inspections to help ensure a similar incident does not happen again.
The company was also ordered to pay the Council’s legal costs of £4,248.