A bakery company and three company directors have been fined £373,000 after two (2) workers (43 and 47) died inside a bread oven. The men were carrying out maintenance work when they became trapped inside the 70′ long conveyor oven, where temperatures were above 100°C (212°F). They died from burns and heat exposure after being unable to escape.
The business admitted breaching health and safety regulations.
The workers, 43 & 47, died after maintenance on the bread oven went wrong at the plant in May 1998. The men were sent into the oven only two (2) hours after it had been switched off. They climbed in through the bottom and onto a conveyor that carried the dough through the giant machine. All they were wearing for protection were all-in-one suits.
Anthony Barker QC, prosecuting, said: “The oven was normally set to run at 260°C (500°F). . It had only been turned off for two hours, and the centre was 100°C (212°F) when these two men went inside. “No one, it seemed, looked at the temperature gauge at the side of the oven, which would have indicated it wasn’t safe to go in.” One worker had taken a radio with him and, after a few minutes inside, sent a panicky message saying it was too hot.
“They were trapped. There was no system of reversing the conveyor and no system of getting them out of the oven,” said Mr Barker. It took 17 minutes – the time it took for the conveyor to pass through the oven – before other workers could help the men.
One worker was brought out in “a state of collapse” and had extensive burns. The other worker was trapped inside the oven and had to be freed by the fire service. He had 80% burns to his body and died at the scene.
Admitted responsibility
The managing director, 57, of the company which owns the bakery, admitted two charges of failing to provide a safe system of work.
The production director, 60, pleaded guilty to a single count of the same offence.
The chief engineer, 45, admitted one charge of failing to take reasonable care for others at work.
The businesses were fined a total of £250,000 and ordered to pay costs of £175,000.
Joint investigation
The firm’s owners was fined a total of £100,000 and made to pay costs of £75,000.
The managing director was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000.
The production director was fined £1,000 and the chief engineer, £2,000 because of their financial means.
They also escaped having to pay costs.
The prosecution followed a joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive and Leicestershire Police.