A 61-year-old maintenance fitter who died after being dragged into a conveyor belt had bypassed strict safety measures, an inquest heard.

Father-of-one Alvaro Estrada, who was known as Al, died in a horrific accident at Brett Landscaping Building Products Ltd on Poole’s Nuffield Industrial Estate on June 4.

His colleagues went looking for him after he was absent from a fire drill and found him suspended around two feet in the air, with his entire arm caught between a roller and the conveyor belt.

They used a knife to cut the conveyor belt and haul him free but he died from his injuries later that night at Poole Hospital.

The jury inquest at Bournemouth town hall heard Mr Estrada, who was on an extended probation period, was working a late shift and had been given an unusual task of centralising the rollers on a conveyor belt. The belt took concrete blocks into a machine that would then give them a distressed appearance.

The inquest was told this machine was surrounded with a secure wire mesh fence, the doors of which could only be opened once the machine’s electricity supply had been switched off.

However, several of Mr Estrada’s colleagues said in evidence they noticed one or two bolts had been removed from this fence and a panel had been peeled back to allow Mr Estrada to gain entry while the equipment was still live.

Senior Dorset coroner Sheriff Payne said in his summing up: “For some reason Mr Estrada bypassed all of these safety measures. A number of witnesses commented they had never seen anyone do anything like this before.

“He removed one or two bolts from the safety mesh fence. I say he removed it because I think in terms of time it could only have been him who did it and it could only have been him who needed to do it.

“We will never know why he decided to bypass this safety system.”

Mr Estrada’s widow Helen told the inquest her husband had complained of not being given enough time to do jobs and of being “unsupported” by his line manager. She said he had not been enjoying his work and sometimes worked 12 hours shifts without a meal break.

“He felt he needed more help and didn’t get it,” she said. “He felt that he wasn’t familiar with a lot of the machines and he was just left by himself.”

The jury recorded a verdict of accidental death.