Network Rail has been fined £1.2 million following the death of a grandad who was crushed while carrying out maintenance work.
The long-serving employee was crushed by a railway track weighing six tons while working at a rail depot in Hampshire.
His wife has said the death of the 53-year-old has left "a hole that can never be filled".
He had been carrying out maintenance on Network Rail's rail production line at the Long Welded Rail Depot on 30 November 2020.
As he was cleaning the inside of a butt-welding machine, a machine that welds two sections of rail tracks together, the machine's conveyor system was on the wrong setting, and that meant a section of rail track entered the machine while the employee was inside. He was crushed and died at the scene.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Network Rail failed to ensure there was a safe system of work while carrying out maintenance on its rail production line. Network Rail also failed to provide an adequate risk assessment for this type of maintenance.
The employee's wife said that he was the "core of our family, he was the one everyone turned to for help. His death has left a hole that can never be filled".
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, was fined £1.2 million and ordered to pay £11,410 in costs.
HSE inspector Amanda Huff said: "This tragic accident was wholly avoidable, caused by the failure of the company to implement safe systems of work".
"This accident could have been avoided if there had been robust isolation procedures in place but tragically this was not the case".
