Samworth Brothers Ltd, which owns Ginsters, Soreen and West Cornwall Pasty Co. brands, handed six-figure fine over failings.
\nAn employee and a contractor suffered scald injuries after being splashed with hot water while carrying out maintenance of steam pipework at the manufacturer\u2019s Kettleby Foods factory in Melton Mowbray.
\nHSE investigation found the company failed to assess risks of the maintenance task and that isolation and lock-off procedures were not followed.<\/p>\n
A major food manufacturing company has been fined \u00a3594,000 following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), after an employee and their colleague suffered scald injuries when they were carrying out maintenance work on steam pipework in the company\u2019s factory in Melton Mowbray.<\/p>\n
The two men were working at the Kettleby Foods factory, operated by Samworth Brothers Ltd, which owns popular food brands including Ginsters, West Cornwall Pasty Co. and Soreen, when they were scalded by hot water from the pipework.<\/p>\n
The men were working to replace a leaking gasket in an isolation valve on steam pipework in the boiler room of the factory. They were undertaking the work from a gantry above the boiler. The gantry didn\u2019t provide access to the specific part of the pipework they were working on, and so both men had to step off the gantry and work on top of the boiler. When they removed the gasket, they were both splashed with hot water from the pipework, suffering scald injuries. One of the men suffered 4-5% subdermal burns, and the other suffered 9% subdermal, second-degree burns.<\/p>\n
The investigation by HSE found that Samworth Brothers Limited had failed to risk assess the task and failed to document a safe system of work for the work being undertaken. The investigation found that suitable isolation and lock-off procedures were not used at the time of the incident, and that the work was undertaken at height without sufficient measures in place to prevent a fall from height. There was a lack of adequate supervision and monitoring procedures in place to ensure that expected processes were followed.<\/p>\n
HSE guidance states that adequate planning of tasks requiring isolation means there should be preparation and coordination of job documentation such as risk assessments, method statements, permits and isolation certificates. The integrity of isolations should be proved before proceeding with intrusive work. When working at height, employers should make sure work is properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people, including using the right type of equipment for working at height.<\/p>\n
HSE Inspector Stacey Gamwell said:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cA company this size should have known better.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a wholly avoidable incident which could have resulted in even more serious consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Samworth Brothers Ltd had properly risk-assessed the task, they would have identified the need for proper controls for working at height, as well as robust isolation and lock-off procedures, including supervision and monitoring to make sure those procedures and controls were properly enforced.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir failure led to severe and painful scalding injuries which should never have happened.<\/p>\n \u201cThe result handed down should serve as a warning to employers; when it comes to keeping people safe, HSE won\u2019t hesitate to take action against firms which fall short.\u201d<\/p>\n Samworth Brothers Limited, of Chetwode House, 1 Samworth Way, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined \u00a3594,000 and ordered to pay \u00a35,834 in prosecution costs, in full, and a \u00a32,000 victim surcharge, at Birmingham Magistrates\u2019 Court on 4 September 2026. The company was also ordered to pay \u00a36,000 in compensation to the injured employee. All sums are to be paid by 4 January 2027.<\/p>\n This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Andrew Siddall and paralegal officer Thomas Smith.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Further information:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Health and Safety Executive<\/a> (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. Samworth Brothers Ltd, which owns Ginsters, Soreen and West Cornwall Pasty Co. brands, handed six-figure fine over failings. An employee and a contractor suffered scald injuries after being splashed with hot water while carrying out maintenance of steam pipework at the manufacturer\u2019s Kettleby Foods factory in Melton Mowbray. HSE investigation found the company failed to…<\/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\/2391"}],"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=2391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMore information about the legislation<\/a> referred to in this case is available.
\nFurther details on the latest HSE news releases<\/a> is available.
\nRelevant guidance can be found here: The safe isolation of plant and equipment \u2013 HSE<\/a>
\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.\u00a0 The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"