Pret a Manger fined £800,000 over London worker stuck in freezer

Pret a Manger has been fined £800,000 after an employee was trapped in a walk-in freezer for more than two hours before later being treated for hypothermia.

According to BBC News, Westminster Magistrates Court heard that in July 2021 the employee was trapped inside the freezer dressed in just jeans and a t-shirt.

The incident which occurred in July 2021 was presented to Westminster Magistrates Court who heard that the employee was trapped inside the freezer in just jeans and a t-shirt.

The court heard that the freezer at a Pret a Manger located in London's Victoria Coach Station was set at minus 18 degrees, with the employee forced to keep warm by moving around in the small space before later losing sensation in her thighs and feet.

In an effort to keep warm, the employee tore up a cardboard box containing chocolate croissants to try and shield herself from the ventilator’s cold air.

After two and half hours the employee was found by a colleague and taken to hospital where she was treated for suspected hypothermia.

The subsequent investigation launched by Westminster City Council's Health and Safety team revealed that there was no suitable risk assessment for employees working in temperature-controlled environments.

It was also revealed via Pret's reporting system that there had been a number of call-outs relating to malfunctioning and frozen push buttons in the previous 19 months, including one at the same remote kitchen in January 2020.

Pret a Manger has pleaded guilty to a health and safety office at Westminster Magistrates Court on the 29 August and has been ordered to pay the council its full costs, as well as a victim surcharge, within 28 days.

The group was fined £800,000 following credit for an early guilty plea and offering mitigation.