The UK's biggest food manufacturer has been fined £14,000 after a 65kg metal pillar fell on a maintenance engineer in Merseyside, crushing his skull.
The engineer was working at the company’s site at in Moreton on 24 July 2008 when a four-metre section of pillar fell on his head.
The company, which has an annual turnover of £2.6 billion, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failing to ensure the safety of its employees.
Wirral Magistrates' Court heard the 61-year-old suffered severe traumatic brain and spinal injuries, and was in hospital for more than six months. He now has difficulty speaking and moving, and his wife hasn't been able to work since, in order to look after him.
The victim and a colleague had been helping to remove cages and pillars from a storage area at the Reeds Lane site. They used an angle grinder to cut the pillar, but when they levered it free at the base it came detached from the ceiling at the same time and struck the victim.
The HSE investigation found that the company had not properly planned the task, and had not trained workers on how to carry out the work safely.
The investigating inspector from the HSE, said:
"A man's life has been turned upside down because basic health and safety procedures weren't followed. The victim has been permanently disabled due to his injuries and will never be able to return to work.
"The company could have brought in specialists to carry out the work but instead the victim and a colleague were just told to get on with the job.
"The victim did not have any previous experience of carrying out this kind of work, and he should not have been put in a position where he had to make decisions about how to do it. There really is no excuse for a company of this size to make this kind of error when it comes to health and safety."
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was ordered to pay £6,808 towards the cost of the prosecution in addition to the fine on 9 September 2010.