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Ellen Yardley, 37, from Derbyshire was working at the company's Somercotes plant cleaning a foil wrapping machine when the cloth she was using became tangled in the rotating parts which gripped the chocolates.
Her hand was dragged into the machine, causing a fracture and cut to her middle finger, which led to a ten-week period off work.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the machine had guarding installed but it was inadequate.
A subsequent audit of other machines in the factory found safety improvements were necessary to a range of machines.
Thorntons PLC, of Thornton Park, Somercotes, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £7,680.
HSE inspector Stuart Parry said Thorntons should never have allowed the machinery guarding to fall below the legal safety standards.
"[The firm] was effectively asking its employees to work on machines that put them at risk of injury," he stated.
"It was entirely foreseeable that the inadequate guarding could lead to injury and even if Ms Yardley had not used a cloth, her hand could still have been drawn into the machine while cleaning it."
Mr Parry said that if the company had carried out an adequate risk assessment of its machinery, its workers would not have been put at risk.
Quantum Risk Management are a leading Health and Safety Consultancy
Worker breaks finger at Thorntons factory
Chocolate maker Thorntons has been fined after a worker broke her finger while operating a wrapping machine.Ellen Yardley, 37, from Derbyshire was working at the company's Somercotes plant cleaning a foil wrapping machine when the cloth she was using became tangled in the rotating parts which gripped the chocolates.
Her hand was dragged into the machine, causing a fracture and cut to her middle finger, which led to a ten-week period off work.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the machine had guarding installed but it was inadequate.
A subsequent audit of other machines in the factory found safety improvements were necessary to a range of machines.
Thorntons PLC, of Thornton Park, Somercotes, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £7,680.
HSE inspector Stuart Parry said Thorntons should never have allowed the machinery guarding to fall below the legal safety standards.
"[The firm] was effectively asking its employees to work on machines that put them at risk of injury," he stated.
"It was entirely foreseeable that the inadequate guarding could lead to injury and even if Ms Yardley had not used a cloth, her hand could still have been drawn into the machine while cleaning it."
Mr Parry said that if the company had carried out an adequate risk assessment of its machinery, its workers would not have been put at risk.
Quantum Risk Management are a leading Health and Safety Consultancy
Posted on 11/01/2012
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