A Cambridge-based company, Boyds Asparagus Industries, has been fined $26,000 plus reparation of $7,000 after a worker was poisoned by carbon monoxide, suffering serious harm.
The accident occurred on 14 April, last year. The victim was working for another company, Core Management Limited, which had leased chillers and forklifts from Boyds. He was sorting stock in a chiller using a forklift when he fell unconscious, and was later found on the floor. It took him several hours to regain consciousness, and need to spend two days in hospital to recover.
Boyds Asparagus Industries was sentenced and pleaded guilty to two counts under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. The company, in fact, failed to train its employees and to identify the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning when using a LPG powered forklift — instead of an electric one — in a confined space such a chiller.
