Chicken firm fined after back-breaking accident

By Mike Stones

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Manufacturing

Crown Chicken should have been aware of the risk of falls from ladders, said the HSE
Crown Chicken should have been aware of the risk of falls from ladders, said the HSE
A Norfolk chicken processing firm, Crown Chicken, has been fined £3,500 after one of its employees broke his back after falling from a ladder.

The firm’s employee Peter Sherwood, 61, fell about 2.5m to a concrete floor, having slipped while carrying cladding boards up an unsecured ladder at its factory near Weybread, Diss in Norfolk.

Sherwood suffered broken vertebrae in his lower spine. He had to wear a back brace and was off work for six months. Although Sherwood has returned to work, he is now able to carry out only light duties.

Use ladders safely

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) discovered that on July 24 2010, a supervisor at the Crown Chicken factory had allowed Sherwood to help another worker carry out a maintenance task. But the task was not adequately planned and the firm had failed to provide information to its staff on how to use ladders safely, according to the investigation.

The firm admitted breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Lowestoft Magistrates' Court. It was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of £3,000.

Commenting after the hearing, HSE inspector Saffron Turnell said: "Mr Sherwood was taken from his usual duties and asked to carry out a task for which he was neither properly trained nor supervised. As a result he suffered a serious and extremely painful injury which caused him to be off work for months.

"More workers are injured by falling from a ladder than any other access equipment. Crown Chicken should have been aware of this and ensured that adequate systems were in place so that its employees were not put at risk.

Tough penalties

"HSE will not hesitate to take employers to court and seek tough penalties if they are found to be taking a lax attitude to their workers' safety."

For HSE guides on how to improve ladder safety, click here​.

Meanwhile, a HSE report published last week revealed that food manufacturers’ employees are nearly twice as likely to suffer a major work injury than colleagues in other sectors of the manufacturing industry.

Food firms are currently the most dangerous sector of UK manufacturing industry after reporting an injury rate of almost twice the country’s average, according to latest HSE figures.

Food manufacturers topped the HSE list after reporting 784 major injuries to staff in the past five years. That represents 265.7 injuries sustained per every 100,000 employees during the review period.

Related topics Meat, poultry & seafood

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