The incident occurred at the retailer’s site in Flaxby, Harrogate on 19 July, where a worker injured his arm while trying to clean machinery.
“Our investigation found that the fully trained colleague ignored our strict health and safety procedure for cleaning a machine,” said a Morrisons spokesman.
“He was taken to the hospital by ambulance with a broken arm. He is now making a good recovery and will be fully retrained on making his return to work.”
‘Making enquiries’
The incident was reported to the HSE on 26 July. A spokesman for the organisation told Food Manufacture it was “aware of the incident” and was “making enquiries”.
Under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) guidelines, businesses must report work-related accidents where the injury involves fractures – other than to fingers, thumbs and toes.
A business typically has ten working days to report any injuries resulting from a work-related accident to the HSE. A list of the types of reportable incidents can be found here.
In the past year, six food and drink firms have been fined for accidents involving arms and hands being injured after coming into contact with machinery.
Injured arms and hands
In May, potato processor Leverton Brothers was ordered to pay more than £10,000 for safety failings, after a worker’s arm was seriously injured in a potato grading machine.
Last week, global food flavouring manufacturer Frutarom was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,002.51, after a worker lost four fingers when his hand came into contact with mixing blades inside machinery.
Meanwhile, in June, Morrisons’ commercial director Darren Blackhurst has pledged to work harder to create open and fair trading relationships with suppliers, while cutting costs by improving forecasting accuracy and agreed on-shelf activity.