Dragon Alfa Cement Fined £1m After Worker Crushed by Concrete Weight
Published on 07/21/2026 at 22:07 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
A Gloucestershire cement company has been ordered to pay a £1 million fine after a 35-year-old employee was crushed to death by a 1.6-tonne concrete weight — a death the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says was entirely preventable.
Martin Bennett died at Dragon Alfa Cement Limited's facility in Sharpness on August 4, 2021. The company pleaded guilty to safety breaches at Bristol Magistrates' Court on July 21, 2026.
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Safety Fencing Routinely Removed
An HSE investigation found that perimeter safety fencing designed to protect workers from dangerous machinery had been removed from the area where the fatal incident occurred. Investigators discovered that such fencing was routinely taken down at the site, leaving employees exposed to hazardous equipment.
The HSE said that if the company had followed established health and safety regulations and maintained the necessary protective barriers, Mr Bennett's death would not have happened.
£1m Fine and Costs
Dragon Alfa Cement admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which requires employers to ensure the safety of their employees. The court imposed a £1 million fine and ordered the firm to pay legal costs of £9,621.
Industry records show the company generated nearly £5 million in profit during 2024.
Wider Safety Enforcement
The sentencing follows other recent high-profile safety prosecutions in the UK. Varcity Living Limited was fined £50,000 after 18-year-old apprentice joiner Chloe Bidwell was killed in December 2023 when an unsecured stack of boards fell on her. In that case, the HSE identified failures around supervision and risk assessment.
Tragedies like these underscore why thorough risk assessments are so critical — yet many UK workplaces still have gaps in their documentation. A free Risk Assessment Toolkit gives you 41 ready-made templates and checklists for fire safety, manual handling, lone working, and more, helping you spot hazards before they lead to harm. Download the free Risk Assessment Toolkit
For Dragon Alfa Cement, the court's decision concludes a multi-year investigation into the 2021 tragedy in Sharpness.
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