Man crushed to death after safety fence removed

A £1m fine has been handed to a company after it failed to prevent access to dangerous machinery which crushed a man to death.

Martin Bennett was working for Dragon Alfa Cement Limited at its site in Sharpness, Gloucestershire, when he was found trapped under the 1.6 tonne weight on 4 August 2021.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found a large section of fencing around the equipment, used to lift cement bags, had been removed prior to Bennett's death.

In a statement released after the company was fined earlier, Bennett's wife Layla said the 35-year-old would have given "the shirt off his back, last pound in his pocket, whatever you needed it was yours".

"He was kind, I mean right down to the very bones of him kind, he would always put himself last even if you didn't want him to," she added.

Dragon Alfa Cement Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was handed the fine, as well as being told to pay nearly £10,00 in costs, at Bristol Magistrates' Court.

One of Martin's daughters described how answering the door to police officers bringing the news of her father's death impacted her so severely that she is still unable to answer the door without anxiety.

HSE inspector Oliver Guiver said Bennett had "lost his life in an incident that should never have happened".

"The company repeatedly failed to ensure dangerous parts of this machinery were properly guarded, despite suitable safeguards being available.

"Had those measures been in place, Martin would not have died," he said.

"Our thoughts remain with Martin's family. He went to work expecting to return home at the end of the day, but because of the devastating consequences of these failings, he never did," Guiver added.

The most recent accounts for the company show Dragon Alfa Cement Limited - one of the UK's biggest cement importing companies - made nearly £5m in profit in 2024.

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