Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd, of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, has been fined £60,000 after a worker’s hand was severely crushed by the rollers of a laminating machine at its Telford site.
The incident occurred on 17 January 2025 when the worker was cleaning the machine using rags after a production run.
During cleaning, the rag was caught between the machine’s in-running rollers and the worker’s hand was drawn in up to the wrist.
A colleague immediately activated the emergency stop, and the worker was hospitalised with a “severe crush injury”, which required two operations and physiotherapy.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation determined that the company had failed to ensure effective measures were in place to prevent access to the dangerous moving parts of the laminating machine.
This included failing to provide a fixed guard to prevent access to the in-running nip point between the rollers during cleaning operations.
HSE also determined that Reflex’s risk assessment and safe system of work were not suitable and sufficient.
The firm was found to be in breach of HSE guidance, which states that employers must take effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery.
Where access to dangerous parts is foreseeable, employers should follow the hierarchy of control measures set out in the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, giving priority to engineering controls such as fixed guarding wherever reasonably practicable.
Additionally, risk assessments should consider not only normal production activities, but also tasks such as cleaning, maintenance and repair, where dangerous parts may become accessible to workers.
Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching workplace safety regulations and was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £4,464 in costs at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on 10 August 2026.
In a separate incident, Reflex was fined £277,500 in November 2025 after an employee died when he became trapped in an unguarded machine at the company’s site in Langley Mill, Derbyshire.
HSE inspector Zach Morris said: “This incident was entirely preventable. Reflex Flexible Packaging Limited failed to ensure that effective measures were in place to prevent access to dangerous parts of the laminating machine during cleaning operations.
“This is the second time in less than a year that this company has been sentenced for health and safety offences, following a fatal incident at another of its sites. Dangerous moving parts of machinery continue to cause serious injuries in workplaces across Great Britain.”
He added: “Dutyholders should not focus solely on normal machine operation when considering access to dangerous parts. They must also consider activities such as cleaning, maintenance, and repair where workers may be exposed to dangerous parts of machinery that are inaccessible during normal operations.”
