The incident took place in January 2018, with the unnamed employee sustaining serious crush injuries to his right leg as a result of the fall.

Westminster Magistrates Court heard how the worker was injured whilst trying to remove contaminants from a paper load prior to it entering a baler.

An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that Accoil Paper Recycling had “failed to adequately manage the risk of workers being injured while operating machinery” at its Erith site.

The HSE found that it was “common practice” for workers and supervisors to jump on and off the moving conveyor belt used to feed a paper baling machine to remove contaminants.

HSE said the employee had sustained “multiple fractures, which have left him with reduced mobility and impacted on his ability to work”.

Accoil Paper Recycling was found guilty of breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. The firm was fined £75,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,706.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Chris McDowell said: “If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to the incident, and supervisors were ensuring that this system was being followed, the injuries sustained by the employee could have been prevented.”

Accoil Paper Recycling was placed into voluntary liquidation in May 2021 by director Stephen Oliphant, with the firm owing creditors more than £2.7m at the time.

Three years ago Accoil set up a joint venture paper recycling business at GD Web Offset in Wath upon Dearne, South Yorkshire. The two firms shared an investor in International Assets & Resources.

This week, GD director Paul Mursell told Printweek the venture was no longer active and Accoil had left the GD site some time ago.

A separate firm, Accoil Recycling, specialises in recycling and ‘re-commerce’ of handheld electronic devices and has a UK facility in South Ockenden.