£400,000 bakery amputation payout

Prosecutions and Claims |
15.09.2007

A bakery manager who lost his arm in a dough-milling machine in a "horrendous set of circumstances" has received more than £400,000 in damages in an out-of-court settlement with his former employer.

Kenneth Johnson was cleaning the bowl of the machine when he caught his right arm between its rollers at Russells Foods' Birmingham premises on 6 June 2003. Firefighters spent two hours trying to free him by dismantling the machine but eventually doctors had to amputate his arm at the scene.

An investigation by Birmingham City Council's health and safety team found that the bowl guard was in an upright position, not covering the bowl area of the machine, which allowed him to access the moving rollers. An interlocking device, which should have prevented the rollers running with the guard raised, failed because one end of the guard was broken.

Russells admitted breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations for not preventing access to dangerous parts of the machine, and Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 for failing to make a proper risk assessment. At Birmingham Crown Court in July 2005, the judge fined the firm £12,500 for each charge plus £3,514 costs.

More than four years after the accident, Johnson still suffers vivid flashbacks and "phantom" pains in the amputated limb. Amputees frequently experience these phantom pains, which appear to come from where an amputated limb used to be and are often excruciating and almost impossible to treat. He sees a psychiatrist twice a year and has been unable to work but is currently studying IT at a local college.

Johnson's solicitor, Paul Hackney of Geldards LLP's Derby office, told HSW that Russells had admitted liability and had settled the case  "some days" before it was due to be heard in court.

He said Johnson was injured in the "most horrendous set of circumstances", adding that he had done incredibly well to get over such a "tremendous setback" as well as he had.