Two companies have been fined a total of £2,475,900 after two men were killed while carrying out pest control work at a chicken factory in Norfolk.

Banham Poultry Ltd and Air Products PLC were sentenced today at Norwich Crown Court after the deaths of Jonathan Collins, 34, and Neil Moon, 49, in 2018.

Mr Collins and Mr Moon, who were both employed by Ecolab, arrived at Banham Poultry’s site in Attleborough, Norfolk, shortly before 8.30am on 3 October 2018 to carry out contracted pest control duties.

When neither man returned from work, their families raised the alarm, and both men were later found dead around 1am in a narrow passageway on the site.

Post-mortem examinations revealed that both men had been killed after entering an area where nitrogen gas had replaced oxygen in the atmosphere.

The nitrogen was from defective exhaust ducting connected to the SafeChill system, which was owned and maintained by Air Products at the Banham Poultry factory. 

The system used extremely cold nitrogen gas to chill recently slaughtered chickens, with waste nitrogen gas intended to be safely vented to the roof.

In the 18 months before the incident, concerns had been repeatedly raised about nitrogen being released at ground level, including reports of dense gas clouds gathering on the passenger platform at the neighbouring Attleborough railway station.

Alterations were made to the venting system, and additional ducting was fitted, but this was poorly designed, insufficiently robust, and later damaged during unrelated roof work. 

Neither company properly assessed the risks posed by concentrated nitrogen or took steps to ensure the venting system remained safe.

By the time Mr Collins and Mr Moon entered the narrow passageway, the additional ducting had become detached from the roof and slid down the poultry roof and into the passageway, allowing nitrogen to be expelled directly into the confined space.  

As nitrogen is denser than oxygen, it displaced the oxygen in the narrow passageway and created a deadly oxygen-depleted atmosphere.

At Norwich Crown Court today, Banham Poultry was fined £900 after previously pleading guilty to two counts of failing to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, while Air Products was fined £2,475,000 after it previously admitted one count of failing to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It was also ordered to pay £83,359 in costs. 

The prosecution followed an investigation by Norfolk Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Busola Johnson, Specialist Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said: “Jonathan Collins and Neil Moon lost their lives because both companies failed in the most basic duties of care, and the consequences were devastating.

“Neither man was warned of the danger into which they were walking that day. There was no system to identify oxygen depleted atmospheres, no effective way to track contractors on site, and no prompt realisation that the men had not signed out at the end of their work.

“The risks around nitrogen gas had been repeatedly raised and still nothing was done. These deaths were entirely avoidable, and today’s sentence reflects the gravity of that failure.

“Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of Mr Collins and Mr Moon.”

HSE Principal Inspector Saffron Turnell said: “Our role in this complex joint investigation has involved inspectors from across our organisation, as well as colleagues in our science division and legal services.

“Together we supported the police and CPS to bring both companies to account for the tragic loss of Neil Moon and Jonathan Collins, who had attended the site to carry out routine pest control work but who were not able to return home to their families at the end of their working day.

“On behalf of HSE I send condolences to their family and friends and all those affected by their loss.”