Overview
- Huws Gray Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the 1974 safety law and was fined £2.2 million plus £9,929 costs at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
- Investigators said the firm knew staff were entering a conveyor’s danger zone but relied on warning signs as CCTV showed 19 entries between April 14 and May 23, 2024.
- On May 22, 2024, labourer Paul Coulson, 56, climbed into the conveyor to remove plastic, and a colleague unknowingly started and then reversed the belt, causing fatal blows.
- After the death, the company installed guarding around the conveyor, changed work so pallets are unwrapped before loading, and added cameras to improve operators’ view.
- HSE inspector Joanne Williams called the lapse a “staggering failure” and said employers must use engineering controls, not instructions alone, to guard dangerous equipment.