Big £200k Fined for Preston Halfords after heavy boxes fall on an employee

Halfords has accepted "procedures were not as robust as they could have been". Due to this, the company was fined £213,406.35 for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

A set of heavy boxes collapsed on an employee pinning him against a wall and leaving him with a suspected cracked rib. These boxes were stacked two or three boxes high, weighing between 10kg – 20kg. Blackburn Magistrates' Court heard the employee had been asked by the manager of the Mariners Way branch to start moving the boxes.

An investigation by health and safety inspectors found the store had:

• Failed to undertake a risk assessment
• Failed to provide employees with appropriate training about boxed bikes
• Failed to adequately control and manage the stock of boxed bikes

There were also other overstocked items in this store, where 91 bikes were found and the storage area was overcrowded.

A Halfords spokesman said the safety of staff was "of the utmost importance to us" and apologised.