Tampopo fined nearly £12,000 over chef burn

Asian restaurant chain Tampopo has been fined £11,500 after a chef at one of its Manchester outlets fell in the kitchen and plunged his foot into hot cooking oil.

The chef suffered serious burns when he slipped as he stood on greasy kitchen equipment to clean a canopy above.

Tampopo admitted four counts of breaching health and safety regulations after the accident in December 2006 at the Trafford Centre. The company was fined £11,500 and ordered to pay £3,084 in legal costs.

Tampopo, which has five restaurants across England including three in Manchester, admitted not having safe systems of work for cleaning equipment at high level, using defective ladders and kick stools and not assessing the risks properly.

Councillor Jonathan Coupe said: "This was a particularly nasty accident and the chef's injuries could have been a lot worse."

Earlier this year, pub chain Marston's was fined £10,000 after a chef slipped and fallen, plunging her arm into the oil of a deep-fat fryer that she had left to cool on the floor.

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By Kerstin Kühn

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