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Gill Aggregates fined £24,000 over conveyor death at Dagenham depot
Manjit Kumar, 34, was pulled through a gap in the machine's guarding in 2020. The company must also pay £43,000 in costs.
Key facts
- Gill Aggregates Ltd fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £43,000 in costs
- Manjit Kumar, 34, was crushed at the Halyard Street depot in Dagenham on 24 June 2020
- The guard around the conveyors had an opening about 60cm wide and 33.5cm high
- The firm pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court
A Kent aggregates firm must pay £24,000 in fines and £43,000 in costs over the death of a 34-year-old worker who was dragged into a conveyor at its Dagenham depot and crushed.
Manjit Kumar was working a bag-flattening conveyor at the Gill Aggregates Ltd site on Halyard Street on 24 June 2020 when a gap in the guarding allowed the machine to pull him in. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said colleagues stopped the conveyor, but the guard had to be dismantled to free him. Mr Kumar died in hospital several days afterwards.
Guilty plea at Snaresbrook Crown Court
The Northfleet-based company pleaded guilty to breaching workplace equipment regulations, which require employers to take effective measures to keep people away from dangerous machine parts. Snaresbrook Crown Court passed sentence on Monday.
Inspectors found the firm had fitted a fixed guard around the compression conveyors, but it had an opening roughly 60cm wide and 33.5cm high through which moving parts could be reached. More guarding was added after Mr Kumar’s death.
HSE inspector Adepeju Sogadgi said: “This was a tragic incident that resulted in Manjit losing his life.” The inspector said the risks from moving machinery were well known, and employers had to put effective measures in place to stop workers reaching dangerous parts.
What the company said
According to a Gill Aggregates spokesperson, the judge made clear the firm had neither broken the law deliberately nor cut costs in a way that put safety second. The spokesperson said the court accepted that nothing earlier, whether an incident or any other circumstance, had warned the company about the particular danger that led to Mr Kumar’s death. The court also accepted that the firm’s approach to health and safety had been a serious one before he died, the spokesperson added.
Gill Aggregates provides aggregates and haulage for construction firms and builders’ merchants. The company said it accepted responsibility for the failings the court identified and would keep learning from what happened.
Key questions
How much was Gill Aggregates fined?
£24,000, plus £43,000 in costs.
Where did the incident happen?
At the company's depot on Halyard Street in Dagenham, on 24 June 2020.
What did the HSE find?
The fixed guard around the conveyors had an opening about 60cm wide and 33.5cm high, which left moving parts within reach.
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