Hull firm fined for H&S breaches following injury.

A multimillion-pound turnover food manufacturer, part of Hull-based sausage, pork and bacon producer, Cranswick Plc, and one of its directors have been fined after a worker was crushed by a forklift truck at its factory.

The incident occurred on 29 July 2012 at The Sandwich Factory Holdings plant in Atherstone, Warwickshire, which has 630 staff and a £44m annual turnover.

Leamington Crown Court heard that a member of staff, Jamie Barsby, 26, was "lucky to be alive" after he was thrown from a forklift truck and crushed between the vehicle and an articulated lorry.

He broke several vertebrae, fractured his pelvis and suffered blood blisters all over his body as a result of the accident.

The judge found that director Paul Nicholson, 55, of Balnain, Drumndrochit, Inverness,  had failed to ensure safety management systems were in place at the factory on Carlyon Road Industrial Estate.

He admitted two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £50,513 costs.

The Sandwich Factory Holdings Ltd, of Helsinki Road, Sutton Fields Industrial Estate, Kingston upon Hull, also pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) and 3(1) of the same act. The company was fined a total of £60,000 and ordered to pay costs of £57,790.

HSE inspector Alison Cook said: "It was a matter of sheer luck that this incident did not result in a fatality. Mr Barsby suffered severe injuries that could have easily been prevented.

"The company failed to ensure that obvious risks from transport operations were controlled."