Two companies have been fined after two pest control contractors, 34 and 49, died while carrying out pest control work at a chicken factory on October 4, 2018. The men had entered an area full of concentrated nitrogen pumped from a chiller system. When the duo failed to return home from work the night before, their families called the police. The court heard both of the men died from asphyxiation when nitrogen gas built up in the pathway at the side of the chicken factory as they carried out routine pest control work. There were no warning signs to indicate they were stepping into a dangerous atmosphere, the court heard.
In court, the Nitrogen gas supplier, which had designed the system, was fined £2,475,000 after previously pleading guilty to breaching health and safety rules. The plant was fined £900, but the judge said this would have been substantially more had the company not entered liquidation.