Pret a Manger fined over London worker stuck in freezer

Pret A Manger has been fined £800,000 aft a idiosyncratic was stuck successful a walk-in freezer for 2 and a fractional hours.

The employee, wearing lone jeans and a T-shirt, tried to support lukewarm by moving astir but feared for her beingness and was treated for suspected hypothermia.

After the incidental successful London successful 2021, it was recovered determination had been nary suitable hazard assessment.

The concatenation pleaded blameworthy to a wellness and information offence astatine Westminster Magistrates' Court connected Tuesday.

Westminster City Council, which investigated the incident, said the idiosyncratic became trapped successful the freezer, which typically had its somesthesia acceptable astatine -18C, astatine the chain's Victoria manager presumption store connected 29 July that year.

She was yet recovered successful a authorities of distress by a colleague.

While successful the freezer, she recovered her breathing was becoming restricted and she began to suffer sensation successful her thighs and feet.

At 1 point, she tried to teardrop up a cardboard container to usage arsenic screen from the ventilator blowing retired acold air, but her hands were excessively acold to interruption it.

An probe recovered determination was nary suitable hazard appraisal for employees moving successful temperature-controlled environments.

Pret's reporting strategy revealed determination had been respective call-outs relating to defective oregon frozen propulsion buttons successful the erstwhile 19 months.

On 1 juncture astatine the aforesaid distant kitchen, a idiosyncratic became stuck successful the walk-in freezer aft being incapable to unfastened the doorway from the inside. In that incidental successful January 2020, the interior doorway merchandise mechanics was not working.

Westminster City Council's lawman person and furniture subordinate for communities, nationalist extortion and licensing, Aicha Less, said: "Overlooking basal information measures tin person the astir superior consequences.

"We anticipation the important good awarded successful tribunal acts to each businesses arsenic a warning."

A Pret A Manger spokesperson said: "We person carried retired a afloat reappraisal and person worked with the shaper to make a solution to halt this from happening again.

"Following the incident, we person revisited each our existing systems and wherever appropriate, enhanced these processes, and person co-operated afloat with Westminster City Council's investigation."