One dead and three injured in Northfleet cement works accident

One man was killed and three others were injured when a concrete ring inside a steel tube in which cement is made gave way at a cement works.

The emergency services were called to the Lafarge Cement site in Northfleet, Kent, at 0730 GMT on Saturday. The men were carrying out routine maintenance work when the accident happened. The man who died was a Polish contractor in his late 40s.
Those injured were taken to hospital suffering from cuts, bruises and shock.

The large steel tube kiln, which was lined with bricks, had been taken out of service so the work could be carried out, a spokeswoman for Lafarge Cement said. The four men were wearing appropriate personal protective equipment and a safety-check had been carried out half an hour before the incident, she said.

The Health and Safety Executive said an investigation had been launched.

Plant manager Dave Dawson described it as a tragic accident, and said the company's first thoughts were with the families concerned. He stressed that safety was Lafarge's primary priority: "All safety procedures were in place and were in use," he said.

Cement has been produced at the site, which was known as Blue Circle Cement up until 2001, for 100 years. It employs more than 300 people and supplies customers throughout the south of England.

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