DS Smith fined after packaging safety breach
The UK-based company, which is a major supplier of corrugated packaging, was fined £50,000 and ordered it to pay costs of £8,244 by a Crown Court judge after pleading guilty to breaking national health and safety laws.
Employee thrown
The accident occurred in June 2010 while the victim was being trained to use a packaging rewinder – a rotating spool that winds corrugated cardboard packaging into a roll – at the firm’s plant in Maidenhead, England.
The 27-year-old man was being shown how to attach the cardboard to the spool when his fingers became trapped in the machine.
The second worker, unaware of the problem, started the machine which dragged the man and hurled him over the top of the apparatus – breaking his right arm in several places and fracturing his ribs. He was off work for 12 months and had pins and plates fixed into the limb
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which led to the prosecution, found that no safe system of work had been implemented by DS Smith. The body said the incident could easily have been prevented.
"There was nothing to prevent the machine being started before people were clear of the danger zone,” said HSE inspector Emma Madeley. “Having a second operator created a serious risk because the man operating the controls had no idea that his colleague was trapped.”
She added that the packaging company had since changed its working practice and installed a guard so that the machine cannot begin rotating at speed if someone's hands are in the danger area.
Regret and willingness to improve
DS Smith said it regretted the incident and had learnt from it.
“This accident occurred nearly two years ago,” said company operations director Neil Osborne. “It remains a matter of regret, coming as it did after almost 4 years of incident-free operation at the Fairfield site."
He added: “We are pleased that the matter is now concluded and we remain committed to operating a significant manufacturing facility where the safety and well-being of our staff is a key priority.
“We listened carefully to the judge’s remarks and were pleased he was satisfied that we are an organisation which takes health and safety seriously. We are constantly monitoring and seeking to achieve best practice in health and safety and that includes a willingness to learn and improve.”
