Ginsters owner Samworth Brothers has been fined £594,000 after two workers at its Melton Mowbray site suffered “severe and painful” scald injuries while carrying out maintenance.
The fine was handed down after the business pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The two men were working at the Kettleby Foods factory in Leicestershire, operated by Samworth Brothers Ltd, when they were scalded by hot water from the pipework.
They were replacing a leaking gasket in an isolation valve on steam pipework in the boiler room of the factory and were undertaking the work from a gantry above the boiler. The gantry didn’t provide access to the specific part of the pipework they were working on, and so both men had to step off the gantry and work on top of the boiler. When they removed the gasket, they were both splashed with hot water from the pipework, suffering scald injuries. One of the men suffered 4-5% subdermal burns, and the other suffered 9% subdermal, second-degree burns.
The HSE investigation found that Samworth Brothers had failed to risk assess the task and failed to document a safe system of work for the work being undertaken. It also found that suitable isolation and lock-off procedures were not used at the time of the incident, and that the work was undertaken at height without sufficient measures in place to prevent a fall from height.
HSE guidance states that adequate planning of tasks requiring isolation means there should be preparation and coordination of job documentation such as risk assessments, method statements, permits and isolation certificates. The integrity of isolations should be proved before proceeding with intrusive work. When working at height, employers should make sure work is properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people, including using the right type of equipment for working at height.
“A company this size should have known better,” stated HSE Inspector Stacey Gamwell. “This was a wholly avoidable incident which could have resulted in even more serious consequences.
The inspector added that if Samworth Brothers had properly risk-assessed the task, it would have identified the need for proper controls for working at height, as well as robust isolation and lock-off procedures, including supervision and monitoring to make sure they were properly enforced.
“Their failure led to severe and painful scalding injuries which should never have happened,” Gamwell said. “The result handed down should serve as a warning to employers; when it comes to keeping people safe, HSE won’t hesitate to take action against firms which fall short.”
In a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on 4 September 2026, Samworth Brothers was fined £594,000 and ordered to pay £5,834 in prosecution costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge. It also has to pay £6,000 in compensation to the injured employee. All sums are to be paid by 4 January 2027.
A statement by Samworth Brothers, which owns food brands including Ginsters, West Cornwall Pasty Co., and Soreen, said: “The health and safety of our colleagues is our most important priority, and we are very sorry that this incident happened.
“It is important to learn from these events. Immediately after the accident we launched an extensive internal review to fully understand what had happened. As a result of this internal investigation several changes were made immediately to further improve upon our health and safety systems and processes in this area of work across our business. In addition, we co-operated very closely with the Health and Safety Executive on their own investigations.”
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