Following an HSE inspection of Aspenlink's production facility in Childerditch Industrial Park in Brentwood, Essex on 4 October, prohibition notices were served on three items of machinery.

The HSE inspection came just over a week after a worker sustained life-threatening injuries at the site when he was crushed by a roll of paper; the worker was freed and airlifted to hospital.

A spokesman for the HSE said it could not provide details of which machinery was involved while the investigation relating to the injury sustained by the worker on 25 September was still ongoing.

He added that the prohibition notices on the company's machines would not be lifted until Aspenlink carried out the necessary actions to make those machines safe for use, as advised by the HSE inspectors.

"Once the issues identified with the machinery concerned are rectified they can become operational again," said the spokesman.

He stressed that the action was against the machinery and not the company.

According to Aspenlink's website, machinery at the Brentwood facility includes Jagenbeg Vari-Dur and Masson Scott U1A slitter rewinding machines with trim widths up to 2,850mm, a 1,420mm CMF Flexographic printing machine and an automatic reel wrapping machine. It is not known whether any of these machines are affected by the prohibition notices.