Pret a Manger fined after employee trapped in freezer for 2.5 hours

Pret a Manger has been fined £800,000 after a member of staff had to be treated for hypothermia having been trapped in a walk-in freezer for 2.5 hours.

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard that in July 2021 the employee was trapped inside the freezer dressed in just jeans and a t-shirt.

The freezer at a Pret a Manger in London’s Victoria Coach Station was set at minus 18 degrees, so the employee tried to keep warm by walking around the limited space, but after losing sensation in her thighs and feet she tore up a cardboard box containing chocolate croissants to use a makeshift cover from the ventilator.

After 2.5 hours, the worker was found by a colleague and taken to hospital where she was treated for suspected hypothermia.

An investigation by Westminster City Council’s Health and Safety team found that there was no suitable risk assessment for employees working in temperature-controlled environments.

Pret’s reporting system revealed that there had been a number of call-outs relating to defective or frozen push buttons in the previous 19 months, including one at the same remote kitchen in January 2020. On that occasion a worker had become trapped in the walk-in freezer, having been unable to open the door from the inside.

Pret pleaded guilty to a health and safety offence at Westminster Magistrates Court on the 29 August. It was 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.

Councillor Aicha Less, deputy leader and cabinet member for communities, public protection and licensing said: “The shocking details of this case show a lapse of due care and attention. This incident shows that overlooking basic safety measures can have the most serious consequences.

“We hope the significant fine awarded in court acts to all businesses as a warning, preventing this from ever happening again.”