The man, then aged 30, was working as a chargehand on a production line at Lunar Freezing and Cold Storage Company Limited’s premises in Peterhead on 19 August 2025 when the incident happened.

The worker had stopped to deal with a box that had jammed too high in a rack loader cage to be reached from the ground. He entered the production line through a gap in the guarding without isolating the power, then climbed onto the conveyor and pressed down on the lid to release the jam. The machine restarted, and his right arm was pulled into the pusher section of the rack loader. Unable to free himself, he was drawn further into the mechanism until his head made contact with moving parts.

Overhead view of the production line

A colleague who heard the worker’s shouts for help isolated the power and stopped the machine. The man was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where he was found to have a fractured jaw and trauma to his chest and right arm. He needed surgery to insert metal plates in his jaw and spent three days in hospital. He returned to work on 29 September 2025 and has made a full recovery.

HSE investigation

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that a section of fixed guarding next to the production line had been removed during maintenance around two weeks before the incident and had not been put back. Without the guard, the gap gave access to the machine without the power being isolated. The correct route in, through an interlocked gate, would have switched off the machinery as soon as the gate was opened.

HSE found that, while the guard was missing, staff had used the gap to reach the machinery on various occasions when boxes jammed, rather than the interlocked gate. Maintenance staff told HSE they had seen the guard missing and had seen employees using the gap, but it was not reinstated. The weekly inspection checklist used by the in-house maintenance team did not include checking the integrity of non-electrical fixed guarding.

Had the guarding been in place, the only way into the machine would have been through the interlocked gate, and the incident would not have happened.

HSE guidance highlights the importance of following safe isolation and lock-off procedures before any maintenance or cleaning work is carried out. Employers must ensure all machinery is properly isolated from power sources, and that systems are regularly monitored and reviewed to prevent inadvertent start-up. Further guidance is available here: The safe isolation of plant and equipment – HSE.

Lunar Freezing and Cold Storage Company Ltd, of East Quay, The Harbour, Peterhead, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) and (2) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £245,000 and ordered to pay a with a victim surcharge of £18,375, at Peterhead Sheriff Court on 28 October 2026.

HSE inspector Nicky Smith said: “This was a wholly preventable incident which left a worker seriously injured.

“A missing guard and an unchecked gap left the way open for a worker to be dragged into a machine.

“Guards must be kept in place, and checks must cover every guard, not just the electrical ones.”