 |
Click on the names below for further case details
Click on the names below for further case details
Click on the names below for further case details
Click on the names below for further case details
Click on the names below for further case details
FURTHER DETAILS OF DEATHS Kenneth Agnew
Kenneth was killed at the Butts Park Cricket pitch at Newton Ferrers. He died from injuries sustained in a fall as he jumped from a lorry to avoid a moving grass roller. The Health and Safety Executive said Kenneth was trying to put the two-wheeled roller on the back of the truck when it slipped. The
inquest was held at Plymouth and South West Devon Coroner’s
Court on 22 December 2004 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Paul Henhsall
Paul a road maintenance worker was killed as he was about to start strimming the grass verges on the A38 Plymouth Parkway. Paul was hit by a car which witnesses reported seeing cross the solid white line and the 'rumble strip' at the road side and straddle it. He and his colleague Richard Duguid, his brother-in-law had parked their van at the side of road and were wearing bright yellow high-visibility jackets. The driver of the BMW car 78-year-old Raymond Bray later admitted to police that he had no recollection of what happened and could have been asleep. The inquest was held at Plymouth and South West Devon Coroner’s Court on 29 September 2005. After a four-day inquest the jury took an hour to return a verdict of 'Unlawful Killing'. Civil engineer Michael Chater told the inquest jury that cones and warning signs should have been placed to warn motorists and that the employers' risk assessments and training in relation to short-term roadside stops were 'inadequate'. At a later court hearing Bray received a £500 fine and six penalty points after he admitted driving without due care and attention, Paul's widow said after the sentence, 'We wanted him banned so it wouldn't happen again. We just can't believe it.' His brother-in-law added, 'It came out at the inquest that three years ago Mr Bray was falling asleep. All we wanted was for him not to be able to do the same thing again. It could happen again tomorrow.' Dean Harman
Dean, who was working as a builder, died when the stone wall at the gable end of a home on the outskirts of Dog Village, Broadcylst, collapsed. His colleagues dug him out of the rubble. Dean was airlifted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital but died later of his injuries. The
inquest was to be held at Exeter and Greater Devon Coroner’s
Court on a date yet to be set.
Bob Davies
Bob, a farm manager for Portledge Estate, died after he fell into the 10ft-deep inspection chamber of a slurry pit at Cockington Farm, Abbotsham and was overcome by fumes. Fire crews used breathing apparatus to free Bob. Paramedics then treated him at he scene before he was airlifted to the North Devon District Hospital at Barnstaple where he died The inquest was held at Exeter and Greater Devon Coroner’s Court on 11 and 12 July 2007 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Inspector, Jo Fitzgerald, who investigated the fatal incident at Cockington Farm, Abbotsham, Devon, was a principle witness at the inquest. Bob was found in a collapsed state in a slurry valve chamber by a colleague. Although the exact details of this tragedy are uncertain, evidence suggests that Bob climbed into the valve chamber associated with the slurry lagoon (possibly to investigate a slurry leak or check a valve) and, because the chamber is below ground level, he had to enter via one of the two inspection hatches - i.e. he was working in a confined space. The valve chamber would not normally have held slurry but evidence indicates that some slurry was passing through it and that Bob was overcome by toxic gases. HSE Inspector Jo Fitzgerald, commenting after the inquest at Barnstaple County Court, said, 'Mr Davies was a respected and experienced farm manager, and this incident highlights the need for everyone in the industry to think carefully about whether there are potentially dangerous confined spaces on their farms. Some may not be obvious at first and people may be working in them without realising the dangers. 'For example, many people working on farms will know that slurry stores are dangerous but they might not be as aware of the risks from inspection pits, valve chambers or other normally 'dry' parts of their slurry systems. Here, the presence of harmful gases might not be anticipated - but even very low levels of slurry gases can be toxic. 'Furthermore, it's not just slurry systems which pose risks but dirty water-treatment tanks, inspection chambers, forage tower silos, rapid composting systems, moist grain silos and the like, which can be equally hazardous. We have advice on how to work safely within confined spaces on farms, and I urge everyone who might be affected to look at the HSE website or ask us for further information.'
Andrew Macdonald
Andrew Macdonald, a fisherman, died in a fire aboard his boat the Lisa Leanne which was alongside Plymouth fishing harbour at the time. Initial investigations indicated that Andrew died from smoke inhalation. A small fire was discovered smouldering in his cabin and he was declared dead at the scene. The inquest was held at Plymouth and South West Devon Coroner’s Court on 5 June 2006 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Tony Reed
Tony died a week after he was injured when a drum of waste oil exploded at R J Bateman. Tony had been working for the engineering company for around three weeks. The
inquest is to be held at Plymouth and South West Devon Coroner’s
Court on a date yet to be set.
Oleg Rozkolod'ko
Oleg, a Ukrainian crew member aboard the cargo ship Neermoor, was working in the hold of the ship at the same time as maintenance work was being done. A large bulkhead door, which separates cargo and runs on rollers, moved without warning and crushed him. Two members of the ship's crew were arrested in connection with the incident but no charges were brought. With police involvement the Marine Accident Investigations Branch produced a report which although apportioning neither blame nor liability raised serious concerns about lack of safety and made a number of interim recommendations.* The conclusions of the report were: Although of poor design, the portable bulkhead system could have been operated safely if the correct lifting equipment had been available, procedures were in place and the system was operated and maintained by trained personnel who followed a fully documented safe system of work. The checks and balances that should have been provided by an effective survey and inspection regime were not in place and so failed to detect and prevent an unsafe operation. The number of crew provided to comply with the minimum safe manning certificate was not adequate to operate Neermoor in the way required by her owners. The inquest was held at Torbay and South Devon Coroner’s Court on 6 November 2008 when a Narrative verdict was returned after the jury found that 'inadequate crew levels and training, a poorly designed bulkhead system and a faulty jacking system' had contributed to Oleg's death. Marine accident inspector Christopher Robbins told the jury that Neermoor's safety management system did not cover the operation or maintenance of the bulkhead system. 'Crew members were not trained and there was too little guidance or prevision to man the system safely. My conclusion is the design of the bulkhead was poor, but it could have been operated safely if the correct system was in place.' The court heard how Oleg and a Russian crew member, Oleksandr Goncharov, were cleaning the hold of the ship after its cargo of sugar beet pellets had been delivered to Southampton. The empty vessel then travelled to Teignmouth to collect a cargo of ball clay destined for Santander in Spain. Hand-powered jacks, one of which was faulty, were used to raise the bulkheads and clean underneath them. The court heard this was a 'usual process' adopted for cleaning underneath the bulkheads with high-powered water cleaners. The bulkheads allow the hold to be divided into three parts and are kept in place by pins which attach to the side of the boat. Mr Robbins told the jury, 'There was no requirement to remove the bulkheads but both had to be raised vertically to clean underneath. When the ship arrived in Teignmouth, the cleaning was almost complete. Oleg was fatally crushed between the bulkhead and the hull. The sound of the impact was heard throughout the ship and the emergency services were called.' The hearing was told how coastguards and medics were taken out on the pilot boat. The dead seaman remained trapped under the door and a specialist heavy lifting crane had to be brought in to release his body. In Mr Goncharov's statement, he said all six crew members were needed to properly carry out the cleaning of the hold. He also said the last time the bulkhead had been moved was four weeks prior to the accident when the pins had been greased. He said, 'Oleg and myself went into the hold to clean it. It was our job to sweep the hold and remove any remnants of the last cargo. 'We were both tired and the distance between the two ports was short and we had very little time to complete the clean. I was using the green jack and Oleg was using the red jack which did not always raise to the right height.' According to Mr Goncharov, Oleg stood up and grabbed hold of the vacuum cleaner. 'I did one more push on the jack and the bulkhead moved towards me. There was an almighty thud and the bulkhead hit the deck of the hull. I started to shout "Oleg, Oleg" but could not hear a reply.' Crew men raced to try and lift the bulkhead but could not shift it and were told by the ship's captain to leave it after it became obvious Oleg had died. The jury was also told, on inspection, the pins were 'dry' and did not appear to have been recently greased. There were also remnants from previous cargos inside the holes where the pins fit which could have affected the system.
Andrew Batten
Andrew, a power worker, fell off a ladder while working at the top of an electricity pole. Andrew was found unconscious on grass at the bottom of the ladder at Hand and Pen on He was pronounced dead a short time later at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital. The
inquest was held at Exeter and Greater Devon Coroner’s
Court on 1 June 2007 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' (contributed to by the failure to wear a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Paul Gilson said the job was routine and Andrew was not using the appropriate equipment issued by Western Power Distribution. He told the jury, 'Although it was feasible, there was no evidence that Mr Batten received an electric shock.' A post-mortem examination revealed Andrew died from multiple injuries consistent with a fall from a significant height and there were no electric marks on his body. Home Office pathologist Dr Gyan Fernando said he assumed from the injuries that Andrew had merely slipped and fallen off the ladder. Peter Williams
Peter, a former builder, died from head injuries after he fell off a stepladder while was fixing an estate agent's advertising board to a property in East Street, Crediton. He was standing on stepladders, on a footpath, and using a drill to fix the sign. The inquest was held at Exeter and Greater Devon Coroner’s Court on 9 January 2007 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' (caused by massive head injuries) was returned. Richard Banfield
Robert, an electrician, was killed while working at a property in Plymouth. Richards collapsed at a house in Plympton St Maurice. Police confirmed at the time of Richard's death that he had suffered an electric shock. The
inquest was held at Plymouth and South West Devon Coroner’s
Court on 11 September 2007 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Rory Littley
Rory was standing on the forks of a forklift truck, with an unqualified driver at the controls, when he was crushed to death. Rory was caught between the forklift truck and a delivery lorry at Plymouth City Council's depot in Prince Rock. Rory was an agency worker and had been working at the depot for about three weeks. The inquest was held at Plymouth and South West Devon Coroner’s Court on 25 July 2007 when a verdict of 'Death by Misadventure' was returned. The inquest heard that Rory was standing on the forks to reach the top of a stack of wheelie bins which were being unloaded. Several witnesses including a police expert said standing on the forks was dangerous but a council supervisor said it was 'standard practice'. One driver admitted lifting workers on the forks to help unload consignments making up 11,000 wheelie bins being brought to Plymouth for delivery to city homes. The hearing was told that refuse collector Simon Hendry was at the wheel of the fork-lift truck at the time. He was neither qualified nor authorised to drive the vehicle but did so while the trained driver's back was turned. Plymouth Assistant Deputy Coroner, Derek Pepperell, told the inquest that Rory was standing on the forks so he could cut tapes holding stacks of 10 wheelie bins together on the Vehicle inspector, Paul Charley, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said that the fork-lift truck was mechanically sound at the time. Barrister Satinder Hunjan, representing Rory's family, said, 'It is clear that the forks of a fork lift truck are neither designed nor safe to carry passengers, are they?' Mr Charley said, 'No.' Another council worker at the depot, Wayne Hearn, who was trained to use the fork lift truck, said he had never seen anyone standing on the prongs of the vehicle involved. He added, 'You never get between two pieces of equipment. You just would not do it.' But council supervisor, Steve Mahoney, who had worked for the authority for 26 years, said it was 'standard practice' for workers to step on the forks. He added that it had gone on for many years and was something that was 'inherited'. Mr Mahoney said in his statement, 'I now think it would be safer to use a set of airport-style steps or something like that. I am very upset by the incident and am still shaken by it.' He said that he had not seen workers being lifted up and down on the forks and that the practice of even stepping on the forks had been stopped. Trained fork-lift driver Brian Parnell told the inquest that he was not shown how to unload the bins arriving in their hundreds every week and devised a system himself to unload the wheelie bins. He admitted that a worker, sometimes Mr Hendry, would start on the prongs a foot or so off the ground and be lifted to reach the bins. But on the day of the incident Mr Parnell was waiting for the lorry to be unlocked before using the fork lift truck when the incident happened. Mr Hunjan asked whether he considered it a safe way to use the fork lift truck. Mr Parnell said, 'If someone was going to be lifted 10ft to 15ft or something from the floor then that would be silly but this was only a foot so they could reach the top of the bins.' After the incident, Mr Parnell said he rushed over to the lorry to find Rory on the ground and Mr Hendry standing over him. He added, 'Simon Hendry said something like: I ran into him or I ran over him.' Stephen Moore, the council's assistant director of waste and street services, said in a statement that Mr Hendry was neither qualified nor authorised to drive the vehicle. In October 2008 it was announced that Plymouth City Council faced trial for failing to ensure the safety of its employees. The council was being prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) over Rory's death and faces five charges. They include failing to ensure the safety at work of employees, including Rory and Simon Hendry, who was at the wheel of the fork lift truck. The council was also accused of failing to ensure employees were not exposed to risk, failing to assess such risk and failure to provide proper training. The council entered "no plea" to the charges when magistrates committed the case to the Plymouth Crown Court. The first hearing was due to be held on November 21.
Robert Sherratt
Robert, a diver with 30 years experience, died after getting into difficulties while diving in the 92m deep Carmel Quarry near Wadebridge, Cornwall. Robert a trimix rebreather instructor, was unconscious when he surfaced, but was pronounced dead after being transferred to Plymouth's Derriford Hospital. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Devon and Cornwall Police launched a joint investigation into the incident. The quarry is privately owned, has no shallow areas and has rarely been dived, though Robert was said to have had permission to carry out the dive. The
inquest was to be held at Plymouth and South West Devon Coroner’s
Court.
Paul Hill
Paul died as a result of injuries he received while working on a building site in Cullompton. Paul is believed to have been crushed to death by one of the roof trusses he was delivering at the Court Farm site in Head Weir Road. Paul was taken to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital by air ambulance, and died there just after midnight. Sgt Alan Mobbs said, 'It looks like he was delivering wooden roof trusses and they fell on him as he was involved in removing them from a lorry at the building site.' The site developers were Somerset contractors A & H Gadd of Taunton. Reece French
Reece died at the East End Community Village Enterprise Centre in Cattedown while working for construction company Kier Western on the site. Reports at the time indicated Reece died instantly when he was struck on the head by a small skip full of bricks in an incident involving a telescopic handler. The
inquest was to be held at Plymouth and South West Devon Coroner’s
Court. Det Sgt Justin Clifford said, 'It has been almost a 12-month inquiry, and the evidence we have got already would give an indication, from my point of view, that consideration does need to be given to both individual and collective culpability in Reece's death. The file asks the CPS to consider whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute the driver for individual gross negligence and manslaughter, taking into account corporate accountability for what was happening on that morning,' he said. 'It's a very careful balancing act as to whether this was a tragic accident or whether there are some criminal connotations.' The police investigation had involved interviewing a number of people at Kier Western, he said. 'Four people in particular have been interviewed on a number of occasions,' he said. 'Three of them are Kier Western employees, and one is a subcontractor working on behalf of the company.' DS Clifford added the file would be reviewed by the CPS in Plymouth and could be forwarded to the regional office in Bristol and then to the casework directorate, based in London. He said it would probably be several months before a decision was reached. A joint police and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation began immediately after the incident. An HSE spokesperson said, 'Our investigation is ongoing. As and when it is concluded, we will have a full case review with the CPS and decisions will be made from there.' In December 2008 Nigel Herring, aged 34, from the Southway area of Plymouth appeared in court charged with Reece's manslaughter. Police said that Herring is an employee of Kier Western and was employed in the capacity of telescopic handler driver at the time of the incident. In March 2009 it was announced that there would be a plea hearing at Plymouth Crown Court on 21 April 2009.
Mark Reynolds and Vince Hussell
Mark was a student and Vince his instructor on the Army Pilots course at Middle Wallop In Hampshire. They were flying on the final exercise, low-flying, when their Squirrel helicopter hit power lines and came down in dense woodland near Kingscott, Torrington. One died at the scene. The other was flown to North Devon District Hospital where he later died. The
inquest is to be held at Exeter and Greater Devon Coroner’s
Court on a date yet to be set.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||