A supermarket supplier and food manufacturer has been fined £176,000 after a fatal incident.
On 22nd March 2016, an employee working for Bakkavor Foods Limited was helping to unload and move empty food trays. The trays, which were being transported on a forklift truck, made contact with a stack of empty trays, causing them to topple. The trays fell on top of the employee, causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground. He died two weeks later as a result of his injuries.
Following the incident, an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bakkavor had failed to ensure sufficient procedures were put in place to ensure forklifts and pedestrians were kept separate. Commenting on the incident, HSE inspector, Stuart Easson, said “This was a tragic and wholly avoidable incident caused by the failure of the host company to implement safe systems of work. This risk was further amplified by the company’s failure to undertake safety measures including segregating vehicles and employees.”
Bakkavor Group pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, receiving a fine of £176,000.
This latest case follows a £2million fine received by the company in 2017, where they received one of the largest health and safety penalties levied in that year. Worker, Jacek Adamowicz, was struck and killed by a falling bale of plastic waste stacked in a yard at its premises in Manchester on 4th February 2015. In this case, it was found that no safe system of work had been put into place for this task completed at the time.
Source: Health and Safety at Work, Workplace fatality at ready meal producer Bakkavor lands £176,000 fine, 22nd June 2018. Read the full article.