{"id":2250,"date":"2026-03-17T10:41:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T10:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/?p=2250"},"modified":"2026-03-17T10:41:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T10:41:06","slug":"bakery-company-fined-after-employee-suffers-hip-fracture-in-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/?p=2250","title":{"rendered":"Bakery company fined after employee suffers hip fracture in fall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2013\u00a0Employee\u00a0fractured their hip after falling from a large plastic pallet box while disposing of food waste into a skip<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 The company\u00a0failed to\u00a0carry out a suitable risk assessment for loading skips and did not provide\u00a0appropriate equipment\u00a0for safe working at height<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 HSE guidance is available<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Bolton bakery company has been fined \u00a316,667 after an employee fractured their\u00a0hip\u00a0falling from a large plastic pallet box while working at height.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The incident occurred on 15 April 2024 at Greenhalgh\u2019s Craft Bakery Limited\u2019s site in Lostock, Bolton. The employee had been standing on a pallet box to dispose of food waste into the top of a skip when they fell.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that Greenhalgh\u2019s Craft Bakery Limited had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for loading skips and had not provided\u00a0appropriate equipment\u00a0to ensure safe access. The investigation also found that inadequate supervision and monitoring had allowed unsafe working at height practices to become commonplace.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Greenhalgh\u2019s Craft Bakery Limited, of Crescent Road, Bolton, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined \u00a316,667 and ordered to pay costs of \u00a34,333.66, plus a victim surcharge of \u00a32,000, at Tameside Magistrates\u2019 Court on 13 March 2026.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Working at height\u00a0remains\u00a0one of the leading causes of workplace injury and death. HSE guidance on\u00a0<\/span>working at height<\/span><\/a>\u00a0explains how to plan and carry out work at height safely, including the importance of selecting\u00a0appropriate equipment\u00a0and ensuring suitable supervision.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

HSE Inspector Leanne Ratcliffe said<\/span>: \u201cEvery employer has a duty to conduct a risk assessment. Employers should\u00a0identify\u00a0work-at-height activities and ensure that safe access is available and used. They should also\u00a0ensure\u00a0systems are in place for supervision and monitoring so that unsafe practices are identified and prevented.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer\u00a0Arfaq\u00a0Nabi and paralegal officer Hannah Snelling.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Further Information<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Health and Safety Executive<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(HSE) is Britain\u2019s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nMore information about the\u00a0<\/span>legislation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0referred to in this case is available.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nFurther details on the latest\u00a0<\/span>HSE news releases<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is available.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nRelevant guidance\u00a0can be found here\u00a0<\/span>Managing risks and risk assessment at work: Overview \u2013 HSE<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>
\nHSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines, or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.\u202f The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found\u00a0<\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.\u202f\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2013\u00a0Employee\u00a0fractured their hip after falling from a large plastic pallet box while disposing of food waste into a skip\u00a0 \u2013 The company\u00a0failed to\u00a0carry out a suitable risk assessment for loading skips and did not provide\u00a0appropriate equipment\u00a0for safe working at height\u00a0 \u2013 HSE guidance is available\u00a0 A Bolton bakery company has been fined \u00a316,667 after an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}