Union safety stand is vindicated by HSE

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has backed union claims and served an improvement notice on a firm producing ready meals for major UK supermarkets.

HSE inspectors conducted an investigation at a London factory run by Katsouris Fresh Foods, which is owned by the giant Icelandic Bakkavšr Group, after a worker's middle finger tip was amputated in July while she was using a machine that she had already reported as faulty.

Inspectors found that the company had cut corners on safety, as the GMB general union claimed. They concluded that the machine was inadequately guarded and criticised procedures for dealing with health and safety problems. Katsouris was also accused of having inadequate arrangements for communicating health and safety information to migrant workers whose first language is not English.

The GMB has a substantial membership among the firm's 2,500 workers, most of whom are migrants, and is currently seeking recognition.