HSE Crackdown on Bakery Dust Hazards Leads to Substantial Fine
A prominent food manufacturing company has been ordered to pay £120,000 after health and safety inspectors uncovered severe failures in managing hazardous substances and manual handling risks. The prosecution, concluded at Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court, highlights the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) ongoing intolerance toward workplace practices that place employees at risk of debilitating long-term health conditions such as occupational asthma.
The legal proceedings followed an intelligence-led inspection carried out by HSE officials at a commercial baking facility operated by Puratos Limited in Buckingham. Investigators discovered multiple systemic safety breaches that directly threatened the respiratory health of staff handling large quantities of dry ingredients.
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Failures Identified
During the initial inspection conducted on 3 December 2024, HSE inspectors identified widespread unsafe practices concerning the handling of flour and other fine powders. Crucially, the investigation revealed that dust was escaping freely from machinery due to deteriorated seals and structural leaks. Rather than applying proper control measures required under COSHH regulations, staff were routinely permitted to use compressed air lines to blow down accumulated dust deposits, alongside dry sweeping with brushes and brooms. These methods actively aerosolise fine particles, dramatically increasing the concentration of airborne contaminants.
Subsequent workplace dust monitoring reports confirmed that employees were routinely exposed to inhalable dust concentrations well above the workplace exposure limits (WELs) established by the HSE. Ingesting or inhaling high concentrations of organic dusts like flour over extended periods is a primary catalyst for sensitization and severe occupational asthma, a life-altering condition for baking industry workers.
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Manual Handling and Historical Non-Compliance
Alongside respiratory hazards, the investigation highlighted acute ergonomic risks. Workers were mandated to manually lift heavy 25kg sacks of raw ingredients on a daily basis without adequate mechanical lifting aids or ergonomic assessments. The repeated execution of unassisted heavy manual handling exposes workers to cumulative musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which remain a leading cause of long-term sickness absence across the manufacturing and food production sectors.
Compounding the severity of the case, the site had previously been subjected to regulatory enforcement action back in 2021 regarding similar failings in dust exposure control and manual handling. Pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Puratos Limited was handed the £120,000 fine alongside an order to pay £6,270 in prosecution costs. Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Emma Page emphasized that too many workers in the baking sector continue to suffer from unnecessary exposure to dusty ingredients, reiterating that regulatory bodies expect proactive risk management rather than reactive compliance. For businesses looking to ensure their staff are fully trained in recognizing these workplace hazards, comprehensive guidance and accredited instruction can be accessed through Abertay Training at https://www.abertaytraining.co.uk.