Safety row escalates

The GMB union has threatened demonstrations outside the head office of Tesco unless the retailer demands an end to an allegedly "dreadful health and safety regime" at supplier Katsouris Fresh Foods. The action is part of a wider campaign for union recognition at the firm's three north London sites, which employ 2,500 mainly migrant workers.

Katsouris, which is owned by the Icelandic giant Bakkavör, has had eight health and safety improvement notices issued against it by the Health and Safety Executive in four years. Last summer, two staff lost their fingertips in an accident involving processing equipment.

But Bakkavör said the GMB's claims were misleading and that worker safety was a top priority. It accused local GMB officer Eamonn Coy of using "strong arm tactics" that were "bordering on blackmail", a description the GMB dismissed as "fanciful"

"They are point blank refusing to deal with us," it said.

Bakkavör told Food Manufacture: "The GMB is coming in hard on the attack and what they're saying is defamatory. Our accident rate is three times lower than the industry average for other food production companies. We always follow up on Health and Safety Executive recommendations following reportable accidents and we have a company-wide drive to improve every aspect of safety at work."

While it admitted there had been 16 reportable accidents this year, it said it was "working very hard to reduce any incidents" at its plants.

Tesco said: "It is not appropriate for us to comment on relations between a supplier and its staff, but we are satisfied that the accidents were a series of isolated incidents and that Katsouris runs a safe and hygienic factory providing employment for hundreds of workers in a disadvantaged area of the country."