London: Pret A Manger has been fined £800,000 after one of its staff was trapped inside a freezer. The employee endured a two-and-a-half-hour ordeal, suffering the effects of hypothermia after being trapped in a freezer at a Pret A Manger outlet at Victoria coach station on 29 July 2021.
Following her rescue, an inquiry uncovered the absence of a suitable risk assessment for employees working in environments with controlled temperatures. According to information from Pret’s reporting system, there were several instances where it needed to address problems with broken or frozen push buttons. One incident in January 2020 in the same kitchen involved a worker getting trapped in the walk-in freezer because they could not open the door from the inside. On that occasion, the internal door release mechanism did not function.
Pret A Manger pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday to an offence that contradicted the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 after an investigation by Westminster Council.
