Supermarket pizza firm fined after Bolton workers seriously injured

A firm which makes millions of pizzas for supermarkets has been fined after two workers were seriously hurt after getting trapped in a conveyer belt.

Stateside Foods Limited was ordered to pay £800,000 for two separate incidents in 2020 at its factory in Bolton.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said one of the men, Andrew Holloway, pulled his arm out of the machine to find his "fingers were hanging off".

The firm had pleaded guilty to two health and safety breaches.

An investigation by the HSE found machinery at the Lancaster Way site was "inadequately guarded", and the firm "did not provide suitable and sufficient checks" to ensure safety measures were working effectively.

This included checks over the disabling of guarding systems to allow access to dangerous parts of machinery.

Stateside Foods, which has been contacted for comment, was also ordered to pay £5,340 in costs at Bolton Crown Court.

Both incidents at the pizza maker's factory in Westhoughton saw workers left with serious injuries after their limbs were mangled by machinery.

The court heard one man needed to have muscle removed and a skin graft after his arm was pulled into an inadequately guarded conveyor belt in January 2020.

He has since been unable to return to work, a HSE spokesman said.

Acting team leader Mr Holloway lost part of his middle finger on the production line nine months later when his hand was drawn between a roller and a conveyer belt while he was investigating an issue.

"When I pulled my hand out my fingers were hanging off," he said.

"The pain was unbearable after the initial shock wore off; I have never experienced pain this bad in my life before."

Mr Holloway was taken to hospital and required two operations to treat his hand following the accident, which he said left him unable to care for his three-year-old son.

"My favourite hobby used to be art, which I really enjoyed, but I cannot do this for more than five minutes now, even simple things like holding a knife and fork when eating can be difficult."

HSE inspector Leanne Ratcliffe said the case against "one of the country's major food companies" should send a message to the industry about the risks of "bypassing guarding arrangements".

She called on other providers to "re-evaluate their own guarding arrangements and procedures to eliminate any access to dangerous parts of machinery".

Why not follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]