Fire Safety

The chef suffered serious burns to his face and hands while trying to light an unsafe burner in the food smoking area of the Suffolk pub in June 2010. His injuries meant he had to receive specialist treatment at the burns unit at Chelmsford Broomfield Hospital.

The pub owners were prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Act 1999 and pleaded guilty to both offences at Colchester magistrates court last month.

Babergh District Council food and safety regulation officers investigated the accident and found the gas installation had been assembled in-house and that a subsequent risk assessment had failed to identify any potential hazards.

The magistrate agreed with the council’s findings and awarded it full costs of more than £3,800. The magistrate told the owners that the court had acknowledged the company’s full co-operation during the investigation and that it had a good health and safety record before the accident.