UK paper mill fined for safety breaches

Sonoco Cores & Paper Ltd.’s, a part of the multinational paper company Sonoco, has pled guilty and has been fined by the Bradford (UK) Crown Court for an accident that occurred at the company’s Halifax, U.K., paper mill that left an employee registered as partly disabled.

According to court testimony, the injured worker sustained serious crush injuries in an accident that occurred in September 2013 while changing a couch roll on a board machine at Sonoco’s plant. He is now registered as partly disabled.

Sonoco Cores & Paper Ltd. of Halifax pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £120,000.00 (US$152,000) with £6,354.00 costs.

After the hearing, Health and Safety Executive Inspector Jackie Ferguson said, “The company failed to provide a safe system of work for changing couch rolls on a board machine. Their risk assessment for this type of work was not suitable or sufficient. It had identified the hazard, yet it did not consider the likelihood or severity of the risk and did not identify appropriate measures to prevent an uncontrolled fall of the machine’s hinged steel arm.”

The HSE is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety.