£1m in fines for wood manufacturer after two serious incidents in six months

A multi-national wood manufacturer has been fined over £1 million, after workers were injured in two serious incidents that occurred within six months of each other.

West Fraser (Europe) Ltd, formerly known as Norbord, employed Sean Gallagher (29), a utility operator whose leg was entangled in machinery in January 2020. The company also employed David McMillan (39), a scaffolder who, in July of the same year, fell 13 feet to the ground after a rooftop gantry collapsed beneath him.

Both incidents occurred at the same site – a biomass plant in Cowie, Stirling. West Fraser (Europe) Ltd had already incurred £2 million in fines after a worker died from serious burns in an incident at the Cowie plant.

Investigators from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) were called to both 2020 incidents. Sean Gallagher had worked for the company for five years, spending the last two working at the biomass plant.

On 20 January, Mr Gallagher noticed a fault on a bunker. He entered the bunker to inspect it, following the company’s safe system of work procedure by switching off the power first.

Later that day, further issues were identified with the same bunker. Mr Gallagher entered once again, but did not switch off the power. He became entangled in the still-operational machinery. Using his phone to alert a control room operator, help arrived to extract him from the machine.

Mr Gallagher was taken to hospital with compound fractures to his leg, specifically his tibia and fibula bones.

HSE found that before the incident, the bunker was freely accessible, whether the power had been isolated or not. After the incident, West Fraser (Europe) Ltd installed a mesh guard across the bunker hatch, which is padlocked shut. It can now only be unlocked by the supervisor once the system has been isolated.

The second incident occurred on 21 July, when David McMillan was working at height on a steel gantry. A plate gave way and he fell 13 feet to the ground, fracturing his neck and ankle.

HSE’s investigation found the gantry structure had no maintenance schedule in place. This meant that multiple corrosions of the steel had gone unnoticed, including the steel flooring and the welds holding plates in place.

The gantry was placed ‘out of bounds’ after the incident. It was then dismantled and removed from the site.

West Fraser (Europe) Ltd pleaded guilty to charges relating to the first incident, namely failing to comply with regulations 11(1) and (2) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £28,000 at Stirling Sheriff Court on 17 February 2025.

At the same hearing, West Fraser (Europe) Ltd pleaded guilty to charges on the second incident. They admitted failing to comply with sections 4(2) and 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £1,040,000.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Stuart Easson, said:

“This is the second time in five years this company has been handed a large fine for failing to protect workers.

“Although both men sustained very serious injuries in these latest incidents, both are lucky to be alive.

“We hope this outcome demonstrates that repeated failures of this nature are not acceptable.”