Factory crush death 'accidental'

The death of a man crushed in a box-making machine in Lincolnshire was accidental, a coroner has ruled.

Colin Blades, 34, died last August after he got into the machine at Linpac packaging factory in Louth.

He was trapped and crushed after climbing into the machine to try to retrieve cardboard causing a blockage.

A Health and Safety Executive spokesman told the inquest that the machine guards did not comply with British Safety Standards.

Giving evidence at the inquest in Louth, Simon Jones from the HSE, said if the guards had come up to standards, Mr Blades would not have been able to get into the machine.

But a Linpac manager said Mr Blades of Eastfield Road, Louth, was an experienced worker and should have known not to enter the machine.

Fellow workers managed to free him but he died at the scene from severe head injuries.

A HSE investigation into the incident is ongoing.