Tesco fined £300,000 after store worker crushed

Tesco has been fined £300,000 after a man was crushed underneath a roll cage trolley.

Piotr Grzela was unloading a lorry outside the Tesco Metro on Magdalen Street, Oxford, when the cage stacked with juice cartons toppled on to him.

He was crushed against the pavement causing two severe open leg fractures, severed blood vessels and a wrist fracture.

Tesco admitted two charges relating to health and safety breaches.

Mr Grzela spent six weeks in hospital after the incident in 2018 and is yet to return to work, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Tesco appeared at Reading Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, where the district judge said there had been a "failure of delivery procedures at every level".

He also commended Mr Grzela's "bravery and determination".

Oxford City Council, which monitors the city's environmental health, brought the case to court.

Its barrister said Mr Grzela had been unloading deliveries on to a roll cage, a tall trolley with shelves used to transport goods around the store.

Store guidance says they should be moved by two people, but the barrister said Mr Grzela and other staff had not received the "specific training".

No Tesco first aiders were on shift, and a staff member from a nearby nightclub tended to Mr Grzela.

Tesco did not report it for 15 days, which it said was human error.

Barrister Saba Naqshbandi, speaking for Tesco, said senior management "expressed deep regret" and that health and safety processes were now in place.

Tesco was also ordered to pay £34,279 costs and a victim surcharge of £170.

Mary Clarkson, cabinet member for culture and the city centre, said she hoped the scale of the fine would "bring home" to Tesco and other employers the "importance of complying with the Health and Safety at Work Act and always applying proper safety procedures".