£65k fine for Co-op after meat mincer hand maul

Friday 12 October 2018

The Co-op has been ordered to pay a fine of £65,000 after a Grand Marché butcher lost all of his fingers and half of his right hand because it was pulled into a meat mincer.

The supermarket chain was handed the hefty fine in the Royal Court this afternoon in recognition of the Health and Safety law breaches that left butcher José 'Valdo' Escorcio with “serious” and “life changing injuries”, which had to be treated in a specialist unit at Salisbury Hospital.

The Royal Court heard that in January of this year, Mr Escorcio was working on the Grand Marché meat counter and had been mincing pork cuts just prior to the incident. 

Some pieces of meat had stuck to the sides of the feeding chute, so Mr Escorcio put his hand into the machine to push these pieces down into the mincer. It was at this point that he felt the mechanism clip his fingertip and then his hand was suddenly drawn into the machine.

It was heard that at the time of the incident, the machine was not fitted with the appropriate safety guard or push stick which are in place to prevent these kinds of incidents, neither had Mr Escorcio received any formal training to operate the mincer.

Pictured: It was heard that the machine which injured Mr Escorcio was not fitted with the safety guard or push stick which ensures the safe operation of the mincer.

Immediately after the incident, the Co-op took responsibility for the accident and have taken several steps to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. 

The Court learned that since the incident, Mr Escorcio had returned to part-time work at the Co-op and has agreed to join the Society’s dedicated Health and Safety team.

Defence Advocate David Benest said that the incident had “stung the heart of the Society more than any fine will ever do… There was no guard on the machine and put simply, there should have been.” However, Advocate Benest added that the Co-op acknowledged their failing and “took steps immediately” to rectify the infractions.

Pictured: The case was heard in the Royal Court for sentencing and the Co-op was ordered to pay £65,000 as a financial penalty.

Having heard both sides’ arguments, the Bailiff, Sir William Bailhache, retired with Jurats Pam Pitman and Rozanne Thomas to consider the sentence.

Handing down the sentence, Sir William said: “The Court accepts entirely that management of the Society has taken the incident seriously. The Court also accepts that the risk was not deliberately taken on in this case… But nevertheless that risk did exist.”

The Bailiff then informed Co-op CEO Colin Macleod that the Society would be fined £65,000 for the infraction as well as ordering Prosecution costs of £5,000.