An egg producer has been fined after a worker was killed after becoming entangled in machinery.
Alban Watts was killed while working for egg producer Bell Mount Farming Limited at its site in Great Salkeld in Penrith on 11 January 2023. The 61-year-old, who lived in the village of Blencow, died after being strangled, when his clothes became entangled in a hen feeding system at the farm.
Speaking after the company was fined £50,000, his brother Martin and sister Louise Robinson spoke of their sadness and anger at his death.
“Losing Alban has taken a part of our trio, without him we are an incomplete unit,” the siblings said. “Not a day goes by where he is not missed.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bell Mount Farming Limited failed to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery, in this case the rotating sprocket of the drive mechanism which powered the feeding system in the poultry shed. The system operated for three minute periods at set times throughout the day; the remainder of the time it was motionless.
Watts was working alone in one of the poultry sheds when his clothing came into contact with the unguarded sprocket during one of these feeding periods, causing it to become entangled. The investigation also identified that the guard designed to prevent such access was not fixed in place and could simply be lifted off.
Further examination of the guard identified that the bolt holes in the guard were stripped, preventing it from being secured to the frame of the drive unit. Additionally, these holes in the guard did not align with those in the frame, making it impossible for the guard to be fixed securely.
HSE guidance states employers must take effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery. This will normally be fixed guards which prevent persons coming into contact with those parts and require a tool to be removed; this was the expected control in this instance.
Bell Mount Farming Limited, of Stainton, Penrith, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1)(a) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £6,038 in costs at a hearing at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on 20 November 2025.
After the hearing HSE Inspector Matthew Shepherd said: “What is most tragic about this case is the failure of the company was such a basic and simple one.
“What was such an easy fault to fix cost a much loved man his life and left a family without a brother and a son.
“Preventing access to dangerous parts of machinery is a well-known and long-standing part of any health and safety management system.
“Alban’s death shows the importance of ensuring machinery is adequately guarded and the devastating consequences of getting it wrong.
“We will not hesitate to take action against companies which do not do all that they should to keep people safe.”
This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Matthew Reynolds and paralegal officer Farhat Basir.