Caught in a trap...

[SueEllen]

Ok it was a freezer in Pret.

But they are "sorry".

https://www.theguardian.com/business...ped-in-freezer

Pret a Manger has been fined £800,000 after an employee was trapped in one of its freezers for more than two hours, where she tried to use croissant boxes to stave off hypothermia.
The employee was wearing jeans and T-shirt when she was stuck in a walk-in freezer, which typically had its temperature set at -18C, in July 2021, Westminster magistrates court was told.

When she was discovered two and half hours later at the chain’s Victoria coach station store, she was in a state of distress, struggling to breathe, and her legs and feet had gone numb.

She was taken to hospital, where she was treated for hypothermia. The company said it was “incredibly sorry”.

The court heard she had tried to tear up a cardboard box full of chocolate croissants to use as cover from the vent blowing out freezing air but found that her hands were too cold to break it apart.

After she was rescued, an investigation found there was no suitable risk assessment for employees working in temperature-controlled environments.

Pret’s reporting system revealed there had been several call-outs relating to defective or frozen push buttons in the previous 19 months. This included one occasion at the same remote kitchen in January 2020 when a worker had become stuck in the walk-in freezer after being unable to open the door from the inside. In that incident the internal door release mechanism was not working.

The sandwich chain pleaded guilty to an offence contrary to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 after an investigation by Westminster council’s health and safety team.

District judge Neeta Minhas fined the company £800,000 plus £23,667 costs.

[ladymuck]

That could have ended so much worse!

I do wonder why it took so long for her to be found. I presume she was in there to pick up stock so you'd have thought someone would expect her to return within, say, 10 mins.

[SchumiStars]

Crikey, hope she's ok. That is the stuff of nightmares.

[SueEllen]

I do wonder why it took so long for her to be found. I presume she was in there to pick up stock so you'd have thought someone would expect her to return within, say, 10 mins.

That's clearly partly what the fine is for.

I've never been in a chain coffee or sandwich shop where they only have one worker.

[edison]

That's clearly partly what the fine is for.

I've never been in a chain coffee or sandwich shop where they only have one worker.

Enforcement by the Health and Safety Executive (like a lot of UK regulators) is pitiful and companies get away with so much.

The father of a friend died in an industrial accident in a way that was almost unimaginably awful and painful. The Health and Safety Executive investigated and despite being found guilty in court, the companies concerned merely received a fine which was fairly meagre compared to their turnover. No individual was held accountable but my friend lost their dad and never truly recovered from it.