DS Smith fined £130,000 following worker injury at recycling facility

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Fines and costs of £130,000 have been given to DS Smith Paper Ltd after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was crushed between two trucks at a recycling plant.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted DS Smith Paper Ltd after the firm failed to observe correct safety procedures around the tipping area at its former Severnside site in Bolton.

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The 61-year old worker from Towyn, North Wales, suffered fractured ribs, a fractured right collar bone, a punctured right lung and multiple bruising after being crushed between his own HGV and another vehicle on 26 February 2010.

During a four-day trial at Manchester Crown Court, the jury heard the worker had emptied his load of paper and had got out of his truck to close it rear doors using two buttons on the side of the vehicle.

As he did this, another truck reversed into the warehouse through a separate doorway and trapped him between both vehicles.

DS Smith has now introduced new safety procedures which mean only one HGV is allowed in the warehouse at a time.

The company was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £49,822 in prosecution costs.

HSE inspector David Norton said: “A worker suffered serious injuries while working at the Severnside recycling site because DS Smith Paper Ltd failed to safely organise the vehicles in and around the tipping area.

“The risks caused by large vehicles reversing are well known, yet the company regularly allowed two vehicles into the warehouse at once, without any safety barriers in place.

“The driver suffered horrific injuries as a result of this negligence, and this case should serve as a lesson to other companies working with large vehicles to ensure that the correct safety procedures are in place.”