Unite member in serious papermill accident
16th February 2009
A Unite member working at UPM Kymmene in Shotton, suffered a
broken jaw and crush injuries to the mouth and cheek bone, when his
head came into contact with a reel spool.
HSE investigations into the exact circumstances surrounding the
incident, with the full co-operation of the company, are still
ongoing. In the meantime, the company has released a ‘Safety
Alert’, in conjunction with local Unite representatives, and with
the agreement of Unite and the Confederation of Paper Industries
(CPI).
Tony Burke, Unite assistant general secretary, said: “We welcome
the response from UPM-Kymmene providing information to the industry
on the recent accident at the plant.
“However, we are appalled that yet another serious accident has
happened in a UK paper mill. Once again one of our members has been
very seriously injured, and could easily have been killed.
“We expect all paper mills to take urgent action to ensure that
an accident like this can not happen again. Unite is calling on all
UK paper mills to redouble their efforts to improve health and
safety in the industry.”
The alert has been sent out by the CPI as Safety Alert 0509 –
‘Paper machine reel spool incident.’
ENDS
For further information contact Mark Di-Toro in the Unite press
office on 020 7420 8938 or 07918 640 579
