Tesco back in court

Supermarket giant Tesco has been fined for its failure to safeguard a 17-year-old employee who suffered a severed Achilles tendon when a roll cage struck her.

Rachel Harris was injured at the Fulbourn Tesco store in Cambridgeshire in June 2007 when the roll cage - which is used to move goods around the shop - hit her leg. She was incapacitated for several weeks.

An investigation by South Cambridgeshire District Council revealed that Harris was not familiar with how to use the roll cage.

On 30 April, Cambridge magistrates fined the retailer £20,000 plus £8285 costs after it admitted failing to ensure Harris's health and safety, contrary to Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

In March, Tesco was fined £22,000 after a worker had his finger sliced off as he tried to mend an electric tug. Haverfordwest magistrates heard that the worker had not been properly trained on using the tug.

In December 2008, the chain was fined £20,000 after an employee lost the tops of two of his fingers in a dough-dividing machine at a branch in Gloucester. The machine's interlock switch was faulty.

In April last year, Sheffield magistrates imposed a £25,000 fine on Tesco after a defective scissor lift knocked an employee unconscious. Passing sentence, the magistrates said it was Tesco's guilty pleas that had kept the case out of crown court.

Article created by Editor. (info@safetynetscotland.co.uk)