Pet food company fined over worker's death

A pet food company was today fined £100,000 for breaches of health and safety regulations that led to a worker being crushed to death in a machine.

John O'Connor, 38, who worked at Butcher's Pet Care Ltd in Crick, Northamptonshire, was crushed when he entered a machine to clear a blockage.

The father-of-two, from Rugby, Warwickshire, died after he entered a caged area in the pet food factory's "palletising" machine to reposition a blocked pallet in November 2003.

Northampton Crown Court today heard guard rails were in place with a key system so workers could not enter without turning the machine off first.

But prosecutor Deanna Heer said it was common practice for employees to climb through a gap in the railings and clear blockages without first deactivating the machine.

The court heard that once Mr O'Connor cleared the blockage he had little more than a second to get out of the machine.

A fellow worker found him trapped between a hoist and a steel gantry.