Workplace safety failings result in a fatal fall and £500,000 fine

A North Yorkshire manufacturing company has been fined more than half a million pounds following the tragic death of an employee who fell from a significant height while clearing a machinery blockage. The incident has once again highlighted the critical need of robust safety measures while working at height and operating machinery.

Mark Pinder, 51, from York, was employed as a night shift worker at East Riding Sacks Ltd, a paper sack manufacturer in Stamford Bridge, near York. On 11 February 2023, Mr Pinder was operating one of the production lines when a blockage occurred on the upper deck of the machine. While attempting to clear the blockage, he climbed onto stationary metal rollers to access the issue.

Tragically, as he worked, part of the machine was inadvertently activated. Mr Pinder was struck by the moving machinery, causing him to lose his balance and fall approximately three metres from the unguarded edge of the rollers onto the factory floor below. Despite the rapid arrival of paramedics at the scene, he died from his injuries before he could be taken to hospital.

A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) uncovered multiple serious failings in the company’s approach to safety. East Riding Sacks Ltd had failed to establish a safe system of work for clearing blockages, particularly in relation to the isolation of the sack-making line. The investigation also found that the company had not adequately assessed or addressed the risk of falls from height posed by working on the upper sections of the machinery.

The HSE’s findings revealed that employees routinely cleared blockages themselves, relying solely on interlock guarding to stop the machine, rather than following a formal lock-out or isolation procedure. Workers had not been properly trained in how to isolate machinery or remove blockages safely. Furthermore, it was discovered that employees frequently used the conveyor belt as an informal shortcut between gantries. Instead of using designated stairs and walkways, they climbed over handrails and onto equipment to save time, an unsafe practice that management was unaware of.

East Riding Sacks Ltd, based at Full Sutton Industrial Estate in Stamford Bridge, York, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. On 30 April 2025, the company was fined £533,000 and ordered to pay £6,066 in costs at Hull Magistrates’ Court.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Elliot Archer said: “Every year, a significant proportion of accidents, many of them serious or fatal, occur because people access  dangerous parts of machinery or work at height without adequate safeguards. In this case, had robust isolation procedures and a safe system of work been implemented, and had the risks of working at height been properly assessed and managed, this tragic incident could have been avoided.”

Inspector Archer emphasised that employers must not only install machinery guards and safety devices but must also ensure that when access beyond those guards is necessary, for example to clear blockages, power sources are fully isolated and movement of dangerous parts prevented before workers enter the danger zone.

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