Machinery that isn't guarded properly keeps landing employers in court — and the fines are anything but small. According to the HSE Media Centre, a baked goods manufacturer has been fined £333,333 after a worker suffered multiple fractures when her arm was pulled into an unguarded sausage roll conveyor line.
What happened
Ribeca Jesuthasan was working for David Wood Baking Limited at the company's food manufacturing factory in Sheerness, Kent, on 1 December 2023. According to the HSE, Ms Jesuthasan was cleaning a sausage roll production line when she passed her hand through an unguarded conveyor roller. Although the line had initially been switched off, it began to operate while she was cleaning it. Her arm was pulled into the rotating roller, causing multiple fractures.
The HSE investigation found that the company had failed to prevent access to the rotating parts of the conveyor line. David Wood Baking Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER). The company was fined £333,333 and ordered to pay £7,644 in costs at Medway Court on 1 September 2026.
HSE inspector Delcina Burden said: "If simple measures had been taken, this incident could have been avoided." She added that "too many workers are seriously injured every year as a result of contact with dangerous parts of machinery due to inadequate or absent guarding."
Why it matters to contractors
This was a bakery, but the failing is universal. Rotating rollers, belts, augers, blades and moving parts exist on construction and M&E sites too — cement mixers, cutting machines, conveyors, benders, and countless pieces of hired plant. PUWER Regulation 11 applies to all of them, not just factory production lines.
The detail that should stop every site manager in their tracks is that the machine was switched off when cleaning started — then it moved. That's the classic gap. A guard alone isn't enough if a machine can be re-energised while someone's hands are in the danger zone. As the HSE guidance sets out, effective protection normally means fixed guarding, and where routine access is required, interlocked guards may be needed to prevent dangerous parts moving before a person can reach the danger zone. Cleaning, clearing blockages and maintenance are exactly the moments guards get bypassed — and exactly when people get hurt.
What to check on your site
- Fixed guarding. Are dangerous moving parts guarded? Are guards actually fitted — not removed, propped open or missing fixings?
- Interlocks. Where routine access is needed, does opening the guard stop the machine? Test that interlocks actually work, not just that they exist.
- Isolation for cleaning and maintenance. Is there a safe system to lock off and prove dead before anyone reaches in? Switching off is not the same as safe isolation.
- Hired plant. Check guards are present and functional on delivery — don't assume the hire company did it.
- Cleaning procedures. Is cleaning covered by a risk assessment and safe system of work, or is it treated as an afterthought?
- Training and supervision. Do operators and cleaners know the machine can start, and know how to isolate it?
Which SafetyPod documents help
Getting the paperwork right won't fit a guard for you — but it forces you to think through the danger zones before someone's arm is in one. Start with a task-specific assessment: our risk assessments library covers common machinery and plant activities, and the inspections and checklists section helps you keep plant and equipment checks logged and current.
For high-risk isolation and maintenance work, a permit adds a controlled hold point — see our RAMS and permits templates. And if you want the plain-English background on PUWER duties and safe systems, the permit to work guide is a useful starting point. These are editable templates to build your own safe systems around — they support your process, they don't replace physical guarding or competent supervision.
The takeaway
A £333,333 fine for a machine that moved while someone was cleaning it. The controls were straightforward: guarding that stays fitted, and isolation that keeps the machine dead until hands are clear. If you run any moving machinery on your sites, walk over and check the guards today.
Browse the full SafetyPod document library to get your machinery risk assessments and permits in place — instant download, fully editable.