East Riding Sacks lays claim to being the UK’s largest manufacturer paper sacks. 

Its sacks are used for food, flour, potatoes, chemicals, animal feed and for cement and building materials.

Its setup includes three flexo printing presses and specialist sack production lines.

The incident occurred at the Full Sutton, York company on 11 February 2023.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) report stated that worker Mark Pinder had been operating one of the company’s production lines when a blockage occurred on the upper deck of the machine.

Pinder identified the issue, and was standing on stationary metal rollers on the deck as he attempted to remove the blockage.

Part of the machine was activated, and Pinder was struck, which caused him to lose his footing.

“He fell approximately three metres from the unguarded edge of the metal rollers to the factory floor below,” HSE stated.

“Although paramedics were called to the factory, he died at the scene as a result of his injuries.”

An investigation by the HSE found that East Riding Sacks failed to provide a robust safe system of work. This related to the isolation of the sack making line and the removal of blockages.

The firm had also failed to identify the risk from a fall from height and implement appropriate measures.

“The HSE investigation also found that workers routinely cleared blockages themselves, relying solely on the interlock guarding to stop the machine, even though they had not been adequately trained in isolation or blockage removal procedures,” HSE said.

“In addition, workers were using the conveyor belt as a shortcut between gantries, often climbing over the handrails onto the equipment rather than down the stairs and walking around. Management were unaware of this practice.”

East Riding Sacks pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 .

The company was fined £533,000 and ordered to pay £6,066 in costs at Hull Magistrates Court on 30 April.

HSE inspector Elliot Archer commented: “Every year, a significant proportion of accidents, many of them serious and often fatal, occur as a result of people accessing dangerous parts of machinery and working at height.

“Where access beyond machinery guarding and safety devices is required for the removal of blockages, robust isolation procedures to remove all sources of power should be implemented alongside a suitable safe systems of work.

“Had these been in place, and the recognition of work at height being undertaken been flagged by the company, with appropriate controls implemented, this incident would have been avoidable”

HSE has advice on its website regarding working at height; and the measures required for the safe use and access to machinery.