The incident occurred in July 2019 at Kay Premium Marking Films (KPMF) based in Crumlin, Wales.

The employee was attempting to clean glue off a roller within the slitter machine when his hand “became caught within the mechanism of the machine and he sustained a broken ulna, radius and elbow”. 

As a result of the incident the employee underwent surgery to have his arm pinned and plated.

The HSE investigation found that, although the company had a risk assessment in place, it had failed to identify the dangerous parts of the machine and  the control measures required to prevent access to, or stop the movement of, those dangerous parts before a person could enter the danger zone.

At a hearing a Newport Magistrates’ Court, KPMF pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of The Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3(1) of The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

The firm was fined £66,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,998.40.

KPMF managing director Chris O’Hagan told Printweek the firm took health and safety very seriously and had reviewed its procedures as a result of the incident. 

“We regret the fact there was an accident and as soon as it happened we guarded the machine in various different ways,” he said. 

“We have a complex manufacturing process here and unfortunately we let ourselves down. The machine was serviced annually by the manufacturer and nobody picked this problem up beforehand.

“We have refined the way we work and reviewed our health and safety procedures and risk assessments. We are very sorry and have moved on.”

O’Hagan also said the employee involved had continued to work at the company for more than a year afterwards and had made a full recovery.

KPMF makes premium self-adhesive vinyl films used for vehicle wrapping, signage, windows and functional applications such as protection and tamper-evidence. The firm is part of the Orafol group of companies.