Man crushed and killed at tissue factory by giant bale of paper

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 – A man working at a factory manufacturing tissues and toilet rolls is believed to have been crushed by a huge bale of paper.

Anthony Davies, 42, suffered the industrial accident on February 10, and was not found for up to nine hours after the accident, an inquest heard.

The Flint, north-east Wales factory manufactures products for Kimberley-Clark, a multinational company including Kleenex, Andrex and Huggies brands.

An inquest on Friday, Feb. 23, heard Mr Davies was found at 7.14am under the large bale of paper after last being seen by his colleagues around 10pm the previous evening.

Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers, who carried out the post-mortem, said the cause of death was crush asphyxia.

The 96-acre Flint site is home to two Kimberly-Clark production facilities employing 209 staff, making tissue paper as well as Huggies wet wipes.

John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, said Mr Davies, of Flint, “may have been crushed by a large bale of paper” in the tragedy.

Mr Gittins said North Wales Police had indicated that no criminal offence was committed and that the Health and Safety Executive would therefore investigate.

The inquest in Ruthin was adjourned to a date to be fixed.

After the inquest, a spokesman for Kimberley-Clark said: "Following the death of an employee who worked for a third-party logistics company at our site in Flintshire, Kimberly-Clark extends our deepest condolences to the individual’s family and friends at this very difficult time.

"We will continue to help the police and the HSE with their enquiries and collaborate with our third-party logistics company.

“We cannot comment further while the investigation is ongoing.”