Tarmac fined for leg crush incident

Building materials manufacturer Tarmac has been fined £633,300 after an employee’s legs were crushed on a production line.

Richard Ogunleye was working for Tarmac Building Products Limited’s factory in Linford, Essex imn July 2022 when he entered a fenced area to manually clean and inspect frames. The frames, which carry large blocks through the manufacturing process, move around the factory on a trackway.

As he was working on the stationary frame, another frame moved along the trackway into the section and struck him. Ogunleye legs were crushed and pinned between the two frames, breaking his right leg, and severely bruising his left one. He was unable to return to work for over a year and underwent extensive physiotherapy.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that Tarmac Building Products Limited failed to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery, namely the moving frames on the track, or prevent the frames from moving when employees entered the danger zone.

The investigation also revealed that the company had failed to act following several near misses which had occurred on this section of the track in similar circumstances. Neither had it implemented the additional control measures highlighted by an earlier risk assessment.

Tarmac Building Products Limited pleaded guilty to failing to discharge their duty under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £633,300, ordered to pay £5,583 in costs and a victim surcharge of £2,000 at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 29 January 2026.

HSE Inspector Connor Stowers said: “This was a serious and entirely avoidable incident, which has had profound consequences for Mr. Ogunleye, and were it not for the quick action of a fellow worker, the injuries he sustained could have been worse. Employers need to ensure that dangerous machinery is guarded effectively, and this goes beyond the initial installation.  In this case, had the previous near misses on the block production line at Tarmac Linford been fully investigated and sufficient action taken, this life-changing injury would never have occurred.”