HSE | A plastics conversion company based in Derbyshire has been fined £277,500 after an employee sustained fatal injuries when he became trapped in the moving parts of an unguarded machine.
Paul Whalley, 46, was employed by Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd at their factory on Amber Drive, Langley Mill, when the incident occurred.
On 29 May 2020, Mr. Whalley entered an opening in the side of a plastic conversion machine that permitted whole-body access to dangerous moving parts. The area contained several unguarded mechanisms, and Mr. Whalley became trapped in the machine.
Despite efforts by the emergency services, including cutting conveyor belts and rollers to free him, he died at the scene from crush asphyxia.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for operation of the machine.
The company had not installed appropriate guarding to prevent access to dangerous parts and had no written safe systems of work or isolation procedures in place.
HSE guidance states that employers must take effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery.
This typically involves fixed guarding, but where routine access is required, interlocked guards may be needed to stop movement before a person can reach the danger zone.
Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd, of Hamilton Way, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
The company was fined £277,500 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs at Derby Crown Court.
