Meat processor Dunbia has been ordered to pay out nearly £500,000 after a security guard at its abattoir was seriously injured by a vehicle passing through the site gate.
The 63-year-old security guard, who was working for an independent security firms, was on duty at the gated entrance of the Dunbia abattoir at Hatherleigh, Devon early on the morning of 29 November 2018.
She sustained serious leg and head injuries requiring surgery when she was hit by a vehicle towing a trailer leaving the site. She was holding the gate open at the time.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the system of work was unsafe and that the meat firm's risk assessments did not extend to the security guards.
Risks also had not been adequately assessed or controlled, the UK's safety watchdog said during a hearing at Plymouth Magistrates Court on 12 October 2022.
Although there was a high volume of vehicle movements on site there was no segregation between the vehicle routes and pedestrians on site.
Dunbia pleaded guilty to breaching Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and the firm was fined £440,000 and ordered to pay costs of £27,016 and a victim surcharge of £170.
Speaking after, HSE inspector Victoria Buchanan said: “Employers have a legal duty to ensure that the health and safety of their employees, contractors and members of the public are not put at risk.
“This incident could have been avoided had the company assessed the risks from vehicle movements and implemented safety measures including segregating vehicles and pedestrians.”
