FACTORY WORKER CRUSHED TO DEATH (From Bournemouth Echo)

FACTORY WORKER CRUSHED TO DEATH

6:32am Thursday 21st February 2008 in

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AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a man was crushed to death by a machine at a Poole sweet factory.

The 33-year-old's legs became trapped in the large production-line machine at Tangerine Confectionery, formally known as Parrs, on Alder Road.

Production was immediately halted as paramedics dashed to the scene at around 2.30am yesterday morning, but the employee was pronounced dead soon after.

The man, a starch room operator from Bournemouth, is believed to be married and of Czech nationality.

Tangerine was closed yesterday while police inspected the machinery involved in the accident.

They are carrying out a joint investigation with the govern- ment's Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Dorset Police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident and a post-mortem examination is due to be carried out today.

Chris Marshall, managing director of Tangerine, said: "Everyone in the company is shocked and deeply saddened by the loss of a friend and colleague."

All eight staff on the night shift were sent home after the accident and police took accounts of the events from the employees.

The accident is understood to have occurred in a small warehouse on the Alder Road site as the machine - used to make fruit gums - deposited jelly mixture into moulds.

Detective Inspector Steve Thorpe of Poole CID said a specialist engineer would be examining the machinery involved.

Tangerine staff were yesterday told to stay at home as production ceased for the day, while employees turning up at the site were told to turn back.

Parrs, which specialised in making rock, was bought by Danish company Toms in the early 2000s and then acquired by Tangerine in January 2006.

Blackpool-based Tangerine is one of the UK's biggest independent sweet manufacturers, with other factories in Blackpool and Liverpool.

Its products include Mojos and Princess Marshmallows.

The Poole factory, which employs 150 staff, is still referred to locally as Parrs and it even retains the name on some of its Alder Road warehouses.