A cleaning company has been fined tens of thousands of pounds after an employee was "seriously scalded" when they slipped and fell into a deep fat fryer while working at a hotel near Gatwick Airport.
A man working at Premier Inn, in Longbridge Way close to the airport's North Terminal, suffered serious burns when his foot slipped and went into the hot oil of a deep fat fryer as he was cleaning above it.
Employer MacDet Hygiene Cleaning Services Ltd was fined £37,500 and ordered to pay costs of £13,002.58 at Lewes Crown Court on August 5 for breaching health and safety rules.
The company had pleaded guilty to failing in its duty [to fulfil the requirements of] the Health and Safety at Work Act at a previous hearing.
The horrific injury was sustained in the kitchen of the hotel when two MacDet employees were tasked with cleaning the extractor system on the evening of September 23, 2014.
One of the employees was cleaning the canopy above the deep fat fryer and its ducting. He stood on one of the filters from the canopy, which was not designed for this purpose, and slipped. His foot went into the hot oil of the fryer causing serious burns to his foot and he then fell to the floor.
This incident was reported by the company, which resulted in an investigation by Crawley Borough Council.
