SafeWork NSW recently issued a safety alert highlighting the dangers of working with nut butter mill machines with accessible moving parts.

The alert was issued following an incident in which a whole food store was injured while cleaning a butter grinding machine (also known as a butter mill).

The tip of the worker’s finger was removed by the sharp blades within the machine which were accessible via the opening at the outfeed area (the output spout on the front cover).

If employers have nut butter mill machines in their workplace, the safety alert said to immediately ensure:

• exposed danger areas are adequately safeguarded to ensure they are not physically accessible, and no body part can reach any moving parts of the mill
• that if guarding must be removed for maintenance and cleaning, you must take steps to ensure (so far as is reasonably practicable) that the machine cannot be restarted until the guarding is replaced (i.e. isolate all sources of energy)
• children are not able to use the machine
• a risk assessment is performed to ensure all hazards have been eliminated or minimised as far as reasonably practicable
• you follow the manufacturer/supplier’s information for correct use, cleaning, inspection, and maintenance of the machine
• information and instruction for using of the machine is provided