Severed fingers spark mass meeting
GMB
Following two industrial accidents since July at Katsouris Fresh Foods, Park Royal, Wembley, where two workers have lost fingers, GMB has called a mass meeting of it members who it fears are at immediate risk working in the food factory. The meeting will plan a campaign to force Katsouris to improve the safety at its three Park Royal sites and is likely to include demonstrations outside major High Street stores such as TESCO, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury and Waitrose all of whom are customers of Katsouris.
SATURDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER, 16.00 TO 19.00
AT BRENT INDIAN ASSOCIATION
COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTRE
116 EALING ROAD
WEMBLEY
HA0 4TH
GMB member Dimple Muit lost the top of the middle finger of her right hand
while using a machine that she had already reported as faulty. Her suffering
was compounded when her Katsouris manager refused to call an ambulance,
offering her nothing but tissues to staunch the flow of blood from her damaged
hand. When she was finally taken to hospital by car when was left by herself
outside the A&E unit bleeding heavily from her injured hand and holding a
plastic bag containing her injured finger in the other. The delay meant that
her finger could not be re-attached. Dimple will be off work for eight to ten
weeks and is in constant pain.
Shortly after Dimple’s accident her work colleague Nitin Chokshi suffered an
accident at the Katsouris site where a large rubbish bin fell on a workers
hand severing the tops of two of his fingers of his left hand. GMB has lodged
personal injury claims for both injured members.
GMB has written to the Health and Safety Executive demanding action against
the company which has been served with seven Health and Safety Executive
improvement notices in recent years with no visible improvement in the safety
Hiten Vaidya, GMB Health & Safety expert said, “Getting compensation for
people injured by Katsouris is not the point. No one should go to work fit and
health and leave it injured. Both these accidents were avoidable. The company
has to clean up its health and safety record which is just unacceptable. It
has a duty in law to provide a safety working environment and it is clearly
failing to do so. The HSE that is supposed to enforce safety in the workplace
have been worse than useless. It is time for them to come on board with us and
sort this company out.”
Katsouris Fresh Foods employees 2,500 people in its three Park Royal sites
which provide ready meals to major retailers like Tesco, Marks and Spencer,
Sainsbury and Waitrose.
August 2006
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