A Plymouth company has been fined £500,000 after an employee suffered fatal injuries when a stack of boxes collapsed at their premises in October 2013.
The deceased workman, aged 22, was clearing up a fallen stack of frozen fish boxes in a cold store area when the further fall of stock occurred. He was struck by the load which caused multiple and severe injuries which proved fatal.
HSE investigators found there was no safe system of work or instruction to staff on how pallets should be stored. There was no written procedure for dealing with falls of stock when they occurred.
Safe stacking system required
The judge at Plymouth Crown Court heard the firm plead guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and imposed a fine of £500,000 and ordered to the firm to pay costs of £24,800.
HSE inspector Emma O’Hara said after the hearing:
“Safe stacking of stock is a cross-industry necessity and can often be overlooked when considering safe systems of work. Duty holders need to ensure that they are stacking safely and that they have a plan for dealing with any unforeseen circumstances such as a fall of stock.”
