A shortbread factory worker has been seriously injured after trapping his arm in a piece of machinery.
Russell Hunt was working at Walkers Shortbread in Elgin when he became trapped – with specialist emergency crews working for more than an hour to free him.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has now confirmed it is investigating the incident, which happened late last week.
Bosses at the factory said last night they were taking the matter “very seriously” and vowed to prevent any repeats.
Mr Hunt was cleaning machinery used to make shortbread and cookies when his hand snagged in a piece of equipment.
Firefighters had to cut apart the apparatus to free him, before specialist paramedics raced him to hospital.
Mr Hunt declined to comment on the ordeal yesterday, but his family said he was concentrating on getting back to work.
Last night Walkers’ production director, Nicky Walker, said he had been called to the factory as the drama unfolded late on Thursday.
He said: “I arrived just as Mr Hunt was being released and there was a lot of commotion, with all the emergency services there.”
Mr Walker met the organisation’s health and safety officials and engineering bosses yesterday to discuss the incident.
He said the “industry standard” machinery involved had been used for a long time and never previously malfunctioned.
Mr Walker added: “The equipment is used on a daily basis, so this incident is unusual for us.
“Now, we are trying to see if we can improve it to make sure nothing like this happens again.
“We are taking this very seriously, the wellbeing of our staff is paramount.”
A spokesman for the HSE said: “We are aware of this incident and we are investigating.”
A spokesman for the fire service confirmed that local crews had attended the scene and used “specialist equipment”.
The spokesman said: “Crews were mobilised to the site at 8.35pm after receiving a report of a person with their hand trapped in machinery.
“Firefighters used specialist equipment to free the casualty.
“The injured party was then transferred into the care of paramedics.
“Crews left the scene at 9.15pm after ensuring the area was made safe.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service added: “We received a call at 8.31pm to attend, and one ambulance arrived on scene at 8.34pm.
“We dispatched a British Association of Immediate Care Scotland doctor who arrived at 9.19pm.
“One male patient was taken to Dr Gray’s Hospital by ambulance.”
Walkers was founded in Aberlour in 1898, and is Scotland’s largest exporter of food.
The accident follows similar instances of employees being hurt while working in Moray’s food and drink sector.
The Baxters soup firm was fined £70,000 last year after James Vann-Allan had his hand trapped in a pie machine.
The incident happened in March 2015, at the company’s Fochabers factory in a unit where Fray Bentos pies and puddings are made.
Mr Vann-Allan suffered fractured bones and a puncture wound to the back of his hand.
And in 2012, John Thomson had to have his right arm amputated after it became entangled in machinery at the W.N. Lindsay grain mill in Keith.
The firm was fined £50,000 for health and safety failings in January 2015.
