The accident, which resulted in a 54-year-old man severely injuring his left arm, happened when a paper coating machine operative was cleaning accumulated coating mix off the rolls on the head section of the machine.
The employee, who has remained unnamed, attempted to clean the rolls while the machine was running at 300 metres per minute resulting in his left hand being taken in to the machine.
Consequently the employee needed two metal plates in his left arm and has been left with permanent scarring and impaired mobility. He has however, since returned to the mill on lighter duties.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation following the accident found that although the company had provided training on the paper coater when it was installed in 2003 they failed to maintain adequate supervision of employees using the equipment.
New processes for cleaning lap rolls have since been put in place that allow access only from a designated point with no risk of being dragged in to the machine. Employees are also now required to use a long pole and scraper for the job with the coater running at a reduced speed of 80m per minute.
Arjowiggins Fine Papers pleaded guilty, at Stonehaven Sheriff Court on Wednesday (13 March), to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £75,000.
HSE Inspector John Radcliffe, said: "Although the company had established a safe system of work for cleaning the rolls of the paper machine some time ago, this had clearly deteriorated over time and there was a failure in management supervision.
"As a result, the very unsafe practice of cleaning rolls at full production speed by some employees was not detected and this was allowed to continue for several years until the incident occurred.
"The injuries suffered by this worker were serious and life changing for him, but could have also been far worse as there is a history in the paper industry of amputation and fatal injuries occurring when safe systems of work are not adopted when cleaning or maintaining paper machines."
Arjowiggins declined to comment.
