The popular meat and charcuterie company Gudruns, which has made itself known for its products, which include the Stockholmare sausage, must now pay a corporate fine of SEK 300,000.
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Lost two fingers in meat grinder
The reason for this is a work environment violation in the facility in Gävle. Security was not sufficient when an employee had two fingers cut off in a meat grinder last year, according to a penalty order from the Public Prosecutor’s Office which News24 took part in.
“The negligence has consisted of the following: The meat grinder was used contrary to the written manual from the manufacturer. The work has been carried out for a long time in such a way that a safety key was incorrectly used to disable a safety switch. This in turn has allowed opening of a protective hood and thus access to moving machine parts, of which the employer may be assumed to have been aware. If the work with the meat grinder had been carried out in accordance with the manufacturer’s manual, the shortcomings and thus risks with the work that caused the accident would not have existed,” writes the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the penalty proposal.
An issued penalty order must be approved by the suspect, and then has the same effect as a sentence. If the suspect does not agree to the penalty order, the prosecutor can file charges and the matter will be tried by a court instead.
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An employee at Gudrun’s meat and charcuterie lost two fingers in a meat grinder. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TTThe company’s response after the accident: “One centimeter was cut”
In another email News24 the CEO of Gudrun’s meat and charcuterie now answers how the accident happened.
“The machine’s protective hood safety switch was out of order. This made the accident possible by being able to reach in before the mill came to a complete stop. The employee put his hand in, but did not hear the machine running, because of his hearing protection. His middle finger and ring finger got caught and a centimeter was cut off,” writes the CEO Andreas Ögren and adds:
“He was on sick leave for six weeks, but was completely fit for work after this and now works full time. Now the machine has been rebuilt, new safety routines have been reviewed and special safety routines have been introduced. The employees receive personal briefings regularly and new warning texts have been set up”.
When it comes to the penalty order and that the Work Environment Agency considers that the company broke the routines, Ögren agrees.
“The Work Environment Agency considers that we breached. Here we have nothing to object to, because the damage is a fact. We have taken the necessary measures to reduce the risk of workplace accidents,” he writes.
The company Gudruns sells everything from bacon and beef to sausages and pork. Photo: Claudio Bresciani/TT
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