The Slug and Lettuce pub chain has been fined £100,000 following an accident that resulted in an employee injury when a cellar door slammed on their hand.
The court was told that the employee was preparing to unload a delivery when the unsecured internal cellar hatch door fell shut resulting in the employee suffering several broken fingers.
The investigation by Colchester Borough Council found that the cellar doors gas struts had not been replaced following their removal in 2016 and that:
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Goods delivery to the premises had not been risk assessed.
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There was no edge protection to stop people falling through the open hatch onto the cellar floor 2.38 metres below.
Following their guilty plea to breaches of Sections 2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act the company has taken steps to ensure that all risk assessments are in place and adhered to by staff.
