Plastics agency is fined £330,000 after worker, 35, died when his sweatshirt sleeve received caught in rotating equipment
A plastics manufacturing company has been fined £330,000 after a young father was killed when he got stuck in rotating machinery.
Nathan Hook, 34, was working for Maynard and Harris Plastics near Beccles in Suffolk when he suffered fatal head injuries.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Mr Hook’s sweatshirt sleeve became entangled in a rotating workpiece and pinned him against the machine.
The firm which manufactures plastic products for the food industry admitted breaching a Health and Safety rule.
Mr Hook’s mother Jacqueline Castledine said the investigation and prosecution by the HSE had ‘completely exonerated’ her son.
Speaking after the hearing, she said: ‘I have very mixed emotions but pleased Mr Hook’s been completely exonerated.
‘We would like to take this opportunity to thank those have supported us throughout this horrendous ordeal, far too many to mention. But mostly the HSE for their thorough investigation and its conclusions.
‘We must now try to move forward keeping Mr Hook with us always.’
Nathan Hook’s sweatshirt sleeve became entangled in a rotating workpiece and pinned him against the machine, a HSE investigation found
The father-of-one was working for Maynard and Harris Plastics (pictured) near Beccles, Suffolk, when he suffered fatal head injuries
Mr Hook had been on a late shift and was operating a lathe – a machining tool that is used primarily for shaping metal or wood – in the tool room to create a work piece for a machine on October 7, 2021.
The father-of-one applied emery cloth – similar to sandpaper – by hand to the workpiece to debur the metal.
It then became entangled and wrapped around the workpiece, drawing him in.
His sweatshirt sleeve also became caught and pinned him against the rotating workpiece – causing fatal head injuries.
The investigation found that Maynard and Harris Plastics had failed to provide suitable health and safety training regarding the use of emery cloth on lathes.
The company did not have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for use of alternative methods, such as application of emery cloth using a stick.
Maynard and Harris Plastics pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The company were fined £330,000 and ordered to pay £4,373 costs at a hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on December 5.
HSE inspector Natalie Prince said: ‘Our thoughts remain with Mr Hook’s family.
‘He was a young dad who should have returned home safely to them at the end of his working day, but because of this company’s failings, he did not.’
An jury inquest into Mr Hook’s death in November 2022 ruled that a lack of training or communication of risks was ‘likely’ to have contributed to his death.
