Cardiff Advertising Firm Fined £400,000 After Worker Dies Fixing Faulty Door
GNW 2023 Realisations Limited, an advertising printing company based in Cardiff, has been penalised £400,000 for health and safety breaches that led to the death of employee Anthony Webb, aged 59. Mr Webb sustained "catastrophic" injuries on 5 September 2022 while attempting to fix an industrial overhead door at his workplace, dying the following day.
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Mr Webb was using an industrial wrench to re-tension the electrically-operated sectional door when the tool slipped. This caused the spring to unwind uncontrollably, ejecting the wrench and striking him. The HSE investigation concluded that the company had not adequately maintained the doors, despite two prior incidents where failing doors had injured other employees.
The company was found to have neglected implementing a routine inspection or preventative maintenance programme. Furthermore, Mr Webb had repeatedly been permitted to carry out door repairs despite lacking suitable training for such work. A critical lack of appropriate risk assessment, a safe system of work, and proper tools and equipment were also identified as contributing factors.
HSE inspector Georgina Bennett stated that the incident was "entirely avoidable," highlighting that industrial door maintenance involves significant stored energy and necessitates specialist equipment and properly trained personnel. "This company failed to recognise those risks, and despite two previous incidents involving overhead doors, had not carried out regular maintenance to detect and deal with the deterioration in their condition," Bennett remarked.
Anthony Webb's wife, Ewelina, described her husband's death as "still very raw," noting his character as a "cheeky chap" who enjoyed helping friends and neighbours. She spoke of the profound difficulty in discussing him without breaking down and the constant cloud hanging over her daily life.
At Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates' Court on 17 June 2026, GNW 2023 Realisations Limited was fined £400,000, ordered to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge, and £17,854 in costs.
