Iceland Foods fined £2.5 million following fatal accident

Latest news in Yorkshire: October 03, 2017 12:48:49 PM

Iceland Foods Limited have this week (18 September 2017) been fined £2.5 million at a sentencing hearing at Grimsby Crown Court.

Iceland had previously been found guilty of breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 following a three-week trial held at Sheffield Crown Court in July 2017.

The charges were brought by Rotherham Council following a fatal accident at Iceland’s store on Sycamore Road, Rotherham, on 28 October 2013. A contractor had visited the store to replace filters within an air conditioning unit which was located on a plant platform above a suspended ceiling in the store’s warehouse.

The contract worker fell almost three metres from the platform and through the suspended ceiling, sustaining fatal injuries.

An investigation by Adrian Monkhouse, principal environmental health officer at the Council, revealed that there were no barriers in place to prevent falls from the platform, the area of the platform immediately in front of the access ladder was restricted (just 45cm in width) and there were several tripping hazards in this area, including cabling and the fixing points for the ladder itself.

Iceland Foods Limited was instructed to take this area out of use until suitable protective measures had been installed on the plant platform. Once this work was carried out to the satisfaction of the investigating officer, the plant platform was put back into use in March 2014.

Further investigations revealed that Iceland Foods Limited had not carried out a risk assessment to consider access to the plant platform either by contractors or their own employees. Iceland argued that they had intended for a guardrail to be installed around the plant platform and had in fact paid for one during refurbishment of the store.

In court Iceland contended that they were entitled to rely on the specialist contractors who carried out work on the plant platform to identify the missing handrail. These claims were rejected by the prosecution and the court.

The company was fined £1.25 million for each offence and ordered to pay the full costs of £65,019.64 to Rotherham Council.

Councillor Emma Hoddinott, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Waste, Roads and Community Safety, “Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr Hopkins family; everyone should expect their loved one to return from work safely.

I would like to thank the council staff for bringing this case to court and getting the answers needed in these tragic circumstances.”

Karen Hanson, Assistant Director for Community Safety and Street Scene, added that the case highlighted the importance of companies considering not only their own employees but the work of contractors as part of their health and safety arrangements.

“All businesses should be aware of the importance of health and safety – particularly for high-risk activities such as working from heights,” she said.

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