DS Smith Paper Ltd – a paper firm based in London – has been fined £400,000 after one of its employees sustained fatal injuries at its paper mill in Devon, after getting trapped in machinery that had no safety guards in place.
42-year-old John Stoddart was carrying out his duties at the Higher Kings Mill in Cullompton, his hometown, when he attempted to smooth out a piece of felt on a conveyor belt.
Mr Stoddart was the company’s operations manager, and he had been attempting to correct a common problem that caused visible creases to appear in large rolls of industrial paper being manufactured at the mill.
It is understood that he followed a similar procedure to the factory’s other employees when the problem occurred, which involved accessing a work platform to check if the moving felt belt was causing the creases as part of its function to squeeze water out of pulp mixtures.
Exeter Crown Court heard that while nobody witnessed exactly what happened to Mr Stoddart, the only possible conclusion is that he was dragged onto the felt belt, which tore under his weight.
He is then believed to have fallen into the machinery below, which was unguarded, and was crushed as a result.
Mr Stoddart was taken to Royal Devon and Exeter hospital but the extent of his injuries was such that he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.
The Health and Safety Executive’s investigation found that, in addition to failing to install a safety guard around the belt, DS Smith Paper did not have a suitable risk assessment in place for work to resolve issues with its machinery.
DS Smith Paper Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was served with a fine for £400,000 as well as being ordered to pay £34,761.67 in costs.