Vegetable processor fined for safety breaches
QV Foods Ltd, of Lincolnshire, was fined ₤15,000 and ordered to pay a further ₤4,606 in costs after a female employee was injured by a falling crate. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of its employees.
Kings Lynn Magistrates' Court, in England, heard that the 43 year-old worker was labelling boxes in the factory yard when she was hit by a wooden crate of potatoes which fell from a forklift truck as it was being emptied into a skip in May 2009.
She fractured her right knee, suffered severe bruising to her back.
"This was an entirely preventable incident, but the company failed to make sure work stations were a safe distance from moving vehicles and materials being handled that might fall,” said Judith McNulty-Green, an inspector for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). "Had the company taken the time to think through a safe system of work, an employee may not have suffered such a painful injury."
