Mountsorrel Quarry: Company fined £1.2m after worker crushed to death

Luke Branston (left) died after being trapped while doing maintenance work

A company has been fined more than £1.2m after a man was crushed to death during maintenance work at a Leicestershire quarry.

Luke Branston, from Leicester, died in the early hours of 21 June 2017 after becoming trapped at Mountsorrel Quarry.

Tarmac Aggregates Ltd failed to ensure the feed hopper he was working on had been properly isolated before the work started, an investigation found.

His family say they are devastated by his passing.

At the time of his death, Mr Branston was working on behalf of Branston Site Services Limited on a nightshift maintenance team that was repairing a feed hopper at the quarry.

He was standing on a conveyor that had not been effectively isolated - through cutting the power - before the repair work started.

The conveyor was then inadvertently switched on, fatally crushing the 26-year-old.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the company failed to properly isolate a feed hopper

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that a test button on the conveyor electrical panel was inoperative.

The issue appeared to have existed for many years before the incident, meaning Tarmac Aggregates Ltd failed to ensure critical defects were recorded and rectified in a timely manner, the HSE said.

The company should have also provided a visual and audible pre-start alarm for the conveyor.

Michael Branston, Mr Branston's brother, said: "I'm definitely not the same person that I was before this incident, I used to be fun and highly motivated, but now I look at things a lot differently and approach things with more caution.

"Luke wasn't just my brother, he was my best friend, there with me every step of the way, so the loss was massive for me."

Luke Branston used to go stock car racing every weekend

His mum, Sharon Branston, added: "Six years on, I still have hard days and cry over silly things. I still have Luke's ashes at home as I can't bear the thought of leaving him.

"Every day I think about Luke and wish he was here still, but I only have memories and photos, that's all we have left."

Tarmac Aggregates Limited, of Trinity Park, Bickenhill Lane, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The company was fined £1.275m and ordered to pay £200,000 in costs at Leicester Crown Court on Wednesday.