Night staff ‘should have same health and safety benefits as day workers’

Posted 19/04/2010

Night staff should have the same standard health and safety care as those working during the day to protect them from personal injury says the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The comment comes after Icelandic food company Bakkavor was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,091 after a night shift worker suffered a personal injury at work.

A female employee had been cleaning a machine consisting of three large metal tanks when she fell 1.5 metres into one and was knocked unconscious at the factory in Lincolnshire last April.

The employee was subsequently forced to take five weeks’ leave and take pain killers for back and neck pain she sustained from the fall.

Jo Anderson, a HSE inspector, said it highlighted the need for employers to know what was happening on their night shifts.

“All staff have a right to the same standard of care irrespective of their working hours,” she added.

Bakkavor operates 66 factories in nine countries including the UK and South Africa.