PUB CHAIN FINED AFTER EMPLOYEE IS INJURED
Date of Release: 08/05/07
A NATIONAL pub chain has been fined £8,000 after a teenage employee used an ice-cream container to heat up soup in a microwave oven – and badly scalded herself.
Charnwood Borough Council successfully prosecuted Mitchell and Butler (Retail) Limited following the incident on 30th August last year at the Quorndon Fox pub, in High Street, Quorn.
The 17-year-old employee suffered scalding to her hands and face after the ice cream container became distorted in the microwave.
Mitchell and Butler had identified in risk assessments that ice-cream containers must not be used to heat soup in a microwave but Loughborough Magistrates Court heard this was a regular occurrence at the Quorndon Fox.
The Birmingham-based company pleaded guilty to two counts of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
They were fined £5,000 for failing to make and give effect to such arrangements as were appropriate for the effective control, monitoring and review of protective and preventative measures identified in the company’s risk assessment for the use of microwave ovens.
Magistrates ordered them to pay a further £3,000 fine for failing to provide adequate health and safety training relating to the safe practice for use of microwave ovens.
Mitchell and Butler also had to pay Charnwood’s costs of £1,596.02.
Matt Holford, Charnwood Borough Council’s Environmental Health Manager, said: “This case involved a particularly nasty and painful injury to a young person at work.
“It demonstrates the importance of adequately controlling hazards which are identified as part of a risk assessment process.
“We should also be clear in our message that Charnwood will seek to take action when businesses place employees at risk.
“Fortunately, injuries of this sort are increasingly uncommon, in no small part because of the work Environmental Health officers continue to do with local businesses to help them identify potential hazards and prevent unnecessary risks.”
