Food manufacturer fined £150k after routine inspection

A routine Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspection exposed a food manufacturer’s failures to guard dangerous machinery parts, resulting in a £150,000 fine.

Oriental Delight (UK) Limited, which manufactures confectionery, was visited by the regulator in October 2023 at its premises in in Wembley, North London. The HSE inspector identified multiple instances where machinery guarding had been removed.

Interlocking safety devices had been ‘defeated’ (intentionally disabled), exposing workers to the risk of injury from moving parts from machinery, including a planetary food mixer and a mochi making machine.

HSE had previously issued prohibition notices to Oriental Delight (UK) Limited in 2016 and 2019, for exactly the same issues. This, HSE put to the court, demonstrated that Oriental Delight had not only failed to sustain improvements, but effectively ignored enforcement action by continuing to use the machines in an unsafe manner.

Appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 4 September 2024, Oriental Delight (UK) Limited pleaded guilty to three breaches of Regulation 11(1) of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,020.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Marcus Pope said:

“This case sends out a clear message to the food manufacturing industry that HSE will not hesitate to prosecute when inspectors find serious health and safety failings, particularly when previous enforcement and advice has been provided.”

“Once again we see how critical it is that all employers make sure they properly assess and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from dangerous parts of machinery.”

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