Coulson died after a colleague started a conveyor not realising he had climbed inside it, resulting in the fatal crush. The company pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act, and was fined £2.2m and ordered to pay full costs at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on 26 March 2026.
In a statement, the company said, “We acknowledge the judgment of Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court following our guilty plea to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act in relation to the tragic death of our colleague, Paul Coulson, at our Herringswell timber processing site in May 2024. This was a devastating loss and our thoughts remain with Paul’s family, friends and colleagues. We deeply regret what has happened. The safety of our colleagues remains paramount, with additional further safety measures having been swiftly put in place to ensure that this cannot happen again.”
The incident happened on 22 May 2024 at Herringswell Sawmills, a site in Bury St Edmonds in Suffolk operated by Huws Gray Limited. Coulson, a labourer, had been tasked with removing plastic packaging from pallets of timber before they could be processed at the mill.
The 56-year had climbed within the framework of the conveyor to access some of the packaging. However, another operative, who could not see Coulson from his location, started the conveyor. This resulted in the pack of timber moving forwards and colliding with Coulson. The operative, who could see that the pack of timber was not moving along the conveyor as it should, reversed it before changing its direction. This resulted in the pack of timber moving forwards again—colliding with Coulson for a second time. The crush injuries sustained were so significant that he died at the scene.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company had previously identified that employees were accessing the danger zone within the conveyor and placed signage asking employees not to do so. However, CCTV analysis revealed that between 14 April and 23 May 2024, operatives entered within the framework of the conveyor on 19 different occasions.
Although the company had placed stickers on the conveyor in a bid to tackle the working practice, no further action was taken to prevent access until after the tragedy.
The measures subsequently introduced to reduce the risk included guarding the conveyor to prevent access, changing the system of work so that the pallets were unwrapped before being placed on the conveyor, as well as more CCTV being installed to allow all angles to be seen by those operating it.
Announcing the fine, HSE said that sawmilling remains a high-risk industry. Accidents can happen when people enter dangerous parts of the machinery to carry out adjustments, clear blockages, or replenish consumables. Companies need to prevent access to the reciprocating carriage and associated machinery during normal operation.
Steps the regulator recommends include installing fixed-distance guarding on the sides of the machinery; close guarding designed to meet the necessary reach distances; or a combination of these or other suitable measures.
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