Copyright cambridge-news
A Cambridgeshire company has been fined £133,000 after an employee suffered multiple injuries after falling. The employee was loading sugar beet using a conveyor at Knowles Logistics Limited in Wimblington on November 28, 2023, when the accident happened. The system became blocked with waste product, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The employee climbed the side of the conveyor to clear the blockage, before falling. They suffered several injuries including several broken ribs, a punctured lung, and liver damage. HSE investigated and found the conveyor system became blocked multiple times during a shift. A spokesperson said: "Often these blockages could only be cleared by climbing up the side of the machine and removing the obstruction by hand. There was no safe system of work in place for clearing blockages." HSE guidance says work at height must be properly and safely planned, supervised, and carried out, by competent people. Knowles Logistics Limited, of Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £133,000 and ordered to pay £5,438 in costs at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on October 24, 2025. Following the hearing, HSE Inspector Natalie Prince said: “Falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries. This was a wholly avoidable incident that led to a worker being seriously injured.” This prosecution was brought by HSE Enforcement Lawyer Iain Jordan, supported by Paralegal Officer Atiya Khan.
