A significant workplace safety prosecution was announced on 20 July 2026 after employees at a Buckingham food manufacturing site were exposed to inhalable dust levels above workplace exposure limits.
Puratos Limited was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay £6,270 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
An HSE inspection identified dust escaping from machinery, compressed air being used to blow down deposits and workers dry-sweeping dust with brushes and brooms. Monitoring later confirmed exposure levels capable of causing occupational asthma. Workers were also required to lift 25kg ingredient sacks daily, creating additional musculoskeletal injury risks.
The case is particularly relevant to bakery, food production and manufacturing workers because the HSE is currently inspecting large bakeries across Great Britain to examine exposure to flour dust and other dusty ingredients. The regulator said that approximately one-third of reportable injuries in the food and drink industries are acute injuries caused by handling and lifting.
For UK workers, the prosecution reinforces that employers must control airborne dust at source, maintain machinery, avoid unsafe cleaning methods and reduce repetitive heavy lifting wherever reasonably practicable.
The Workers Union will continue monitoring HSE prosecutions and emerging workplace risks affecting workers across manufacturing, food production and other high-risk sectors.
