Employer fined and jailed for accident with meat grinder

An employer has been sentenced to one year in prison after a worker suffered an accident whilst cleaning a meat grinding machine.

The court in Alicante also ordered the employer to pay more than €230,000 in compensation to the worker who was not legally employed and listed on Social Security, and had to have three fingers amputated as a result of the accident in August 2008.

The defendant was accused of not offering the man the correct protective equipment and the court was told the machine lacked the necessary safety devices. The defendant denied the charges and said the man was a friend working “out of friendship.”