Dad-of-one, 32, died from catastrophic injuries when arm severed after getting trapped in Kildare concrete plant machine

A DAD-of-one died from catastrophic injuries when his arm was severed after getting it trapped in a machine at a concrete plant in Kildare five years ago, an inquest has heard.

Donatas Jokubauskas, 32, a native of Lithuania, was pronounced dead at the scene of the fatal incident at his workplace at Flanagan Concrete Products in Rathangan, Co Kildare on May 31, 2021.

A sitting of Kildare Coroner’s Court heard that the Lithuanian native became entrapped in the tail drum of a conveyor system at a batching plant within the facility.

The inquest heard the deceased – known as Donny to work colleagues – had been living in accommodation on the site of the concrete plant with his wife, Laura, and one-year-old son, Arijus.

Ms Jokubauskas told the inquest that they had married in July 2017 and her husband had moved to Ireland three months later after his uncle had found him a job, before she joined him the following month.

A director of Flanagan Concrete Products, Bernard Flanagan, gave evidence that he and Mr Jokubauskas had gone into the batching plant at around 10.30am as he was concerned about a spillage of aggregate on the equipment.

The inquest heard that Mr Jokubauskas had recommended that a piece of rubber was needed for the machine.

Mr Flanagan said a guard was in place on the machinery before he left to go find a measuring tape.

As he was returning to the plant, Mr Flanagan said he heard a scream before discovering his employee was seriously injured and raising the alarm.

Other work colleagues, including the deceased’s uncle, Andrius Jokubauskas, gave evidence of trying to provide first aid and stop his bleeding before emergency crews arrived at the scene.

Another staff member, Andrius Rimkus, said Mr Jokubauskas had lost a huge amount of blood and was not talking, while a driver, Niall Moore, described how he had placed the severed arm in a bag.

Paramedic Frank O’Connor, who arrived at the factory at 11.43am, said the victim was still alive but had suffered a traumatic amputation injury.

While an air ambulance had also arrived at the scene, the inquest heard Mr Jokubauskas went into cardiac arrest at 11.49am and medical assistance was withdrawn 15 minutes later.

Health and Safety Authority inspector Vincent Darcy said an investigation had established that a protective guard had been removed from the batching plant to access the conveyor system.

The inquest heard that while the equipment was being examined by Mr Jokubauskas, the machine was started at around 10.40am by a plant operator who was located in a separate office, trapping the victim between a tail drum and a conveyor belt.

The HSA inspector said there were no direct witnesses to the fatal incident.

Mr Darcy said a number of health and safety matters identified at the scene were addressed by the company’s management.

In March 2026, Flanagan Concrete Products was fined a total of €80,000 at a sitting of Naas Circuit Criminal Court after the company pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

They related to the failure to ensure a weight conveyor was not operated while a safety trip wire was inoperative and the failure to ensure that guards provided were not easily removed or rendered inoperative.

Mr Darcy confirmed to Remy Farrell SC, counsel for Flanagan Concrete Products, that neither failure was a factor in Mr Jokubauskas’s death.

Mr Farrell acknowledged that health and safety regulations made it dangerous for the guards to be removable without the use of tools.

Kildare County Coroner Loretta Nolan said a post-mortem showed Mr Jokubauskas had died from hypovolaemic shock from a severed left arm as a result of a workplace incident.

Dr Nolan recorded a verdict of death by misadventure which she said was appropriate but not a sign of apportioning any blame.

Offering her condolences to the deceased’s wife and work colleagues, the coroner remarked: “It was an awful tragedy for you. There are no other words to describe what happened.”