Food giant Heinz has been fined £20,000 after a worker's hand was seriously injured at a baked bean factory in Wigan.

The 65-year-old lost his index finger, suffered severe nerve damage to two other fingers, and received deep cuts to his hand.

The company, which has an annual turnover of £700m, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the incident at its Kitt Green plant in Spring Road in April 2008.

The worker was making a new metal part for a baked-bean packaging machine when the accident happened.

He was using emery cloth to polish the component on a machine while it was rotating, when his glove was pulled in.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court was told that Heinz should have identified safety measures for the work in advance, such as providing an alternative way to polish the metal component so that emery cloth did not need to be used.

Heinz, which employs approximately 32,500 people around the globe, pleaded guilty to two health and safety offences, admitting they had failed to carry out a risk assessment for the work or to provide adequate training.

The company - of Hayes Park in Hayes, Middlesex - was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £4,496.50 in prosecution costs.

Deborah Walker, the investigating inspector at the HSE, said:“This worker has suffered severe injuries to his left hand, which will affect him for the rest of his life, because Heinz didn’t make sure he was working safely.

“He had been employed by Heinz for more than 20 years, but was not given any refresher training on safe working practices in that time.

“The company also failed to assess the risks of the work he was carrying out, and make sure suitable safety measures were in place.

“The risk of emery cloth being pulled into rotating metalworking machines is well known. Manufacturing companies should make sure employees are following the latest health and safety guidance on this issue.”

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