HSE updates Product Safety Report following Swindon printing machinery explosion
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has updated its Product Safety Report following an industrial explosion involving a Diferro sublimation calender machine at Swindon's Groundwell Industrial Estate on 24 September 2025. Acting as market surveillance authority, HSE has directly contacted all known users of similar machinery, instructing them to consult the updated guidance and cease operations if in doubt. The revised guidance mandates that operators cease using these machines until a second independent Safety-Related Control System (SRCS) has been installed by a competent person and validated to appropriate standards. HSE is coordinating with UK border officials to prevent additional Diferro machines entering the country and is investigating possible links between the Swindon incident and a 2023 explosion at Treforest Industrial Estate, South Wales, which resulted in one fatality. The original Product Safety Report was first published in April 2024 following the South Wales incident.