Deaths
in 2001
Deaths in 2001 No details
of deaths available Deaths in 2002
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 Brian Baxter
Brian, a self-employed dry-liner, fell 7 feet off a scaffolding tower he was dismantling. 0n 27 February 2002. Brian suffered serious head injuries and died three weeks later at Frenchay Hospital. Brian had been sub-contracted to work on the construction of a partition wall in a warehouse, used a the time as a go-karting circuit. Brian was not wearing a hard hat at the the time of the fall. The Bristol Against Casualisation Campaign reported that Brian's son Nathaniel who worked with his father implied in his statement to the court that health and safety protection on the job in question may not have been adequate. He stated that when beginning on the job no formal induction had been given and that he was unaware of the presence of a foreman. The inquest at Avon Coroner's Court held on 24 April 2003 returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'.
Susan Worgan
Susan, a worker at Whaddon Family Centre in Cheltenham, died three days after a fall from a stepladder on 19 May 2003. The inquest at Avon Coroner's Court held on 21 June 2004 returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'.
John Cox
John, a carpenter on the Bath Spa project, died in hospital two weeks after being found with severe head injuries. The inquest at Avon Coroner's Court held on 23 June 2004 returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'. John's employer, Mowlem, petitioned the High Court on the grounds that the Coroner's wording was unlawful. The firm claimed that, because the coroner's report said nobody witnessed John's death, the statement contained in it that he had fallen from a ladder was presumptuous. The 2004 inquest heard there were no witnesses to the incident which led to John's death and it was unclear whether he had fallen from the roof or a ladder or whether he had tripped. The judge ruled that some of the wording in the inquest report should be changed from 'when he fell from a ladder' to 'Mr Cox stumbled, tripped and/or fell at work'. Mowlem face two charges under the Health & Safety at Work Act, in an action brought by the Health and Safety Executive, over John's death. In June 2005 Mowlem was ordered to pay £20,000 in fines and costs after John's death. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Mowlem had failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its staff by having no safety system. At Bath Magistrates' Court the firm, which had a group turnover of £2.1bn in 2004, was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £12,107.76 costs after admitting breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. Chair of the bench, Robin Acton, said the fine had to be large enough to send out the message that safety in the workplace was paramount. Mike Shepherd, for Mowlem, told magistrates the firm had won awards for its safety record. After the hearing, a statement from the firm said it accepted the sentence but said: 'We would underline, however, that the HSE has accepted that the breach was in no way either the cause of or a contributory factor in the unfortunate death of John Cox.' The TUC commented, 'The company did not draw attention to its history of safety prosecutions. HSE records show Mowlem plc has been prosecuted at least four times in the last eight years for safety offences, including a £100,000 fine in a case relating to the death of a worker in 1997 and a £7,000 fine in 2004 after an incident when a member of the public was decapitated. Its railway maintenance offshoot was recently fined £75,000 for offences relating to the death of a worker.'
Raymond Wilson
Raymond, a self-employed construction worker, died after a fall from a 13 foot fall at a domestic property in Bristol. The inquest at Avon Coroner's Court held on 27 January 2005 returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'.
Horace Livall
Horace died after a fall from 15 feet from the doorway of an aircraft at the Concorde Museum in Filton. He suffered severe head injuries and died in hospital shortly after. The inquest is to be held at Avon Coroner's Court opening on 2 June 2008 and expected to take four to five days.
Grahame Wilkinson
Grahame, a mechanic, was crushed by the bus he was trying to repair. He was declared dead at the scene after suffering a haemorrhage in his chest and lungs. Fire crews had worked for three and a half hours to free Grahame. The inquest at Avon Coroner's Court held in February 2005 returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'. The inquest found that the bus rolled back on to Grahame because of a momentary lapse in judgement when he failed to place wheel chocks behind its tyres. The hearing was told the bus should not have left the depot on the night of the incident as it had faulty brakes. The driver of the bus said he was aware he had broken company policy by taking the bus out. Adrian Stacey told the inquest that platform inspector Mark Stone had told him to take the bus out if the fault seemed fixed. When just minutes later the bus broke down in traffic Mr Stacey disengaged the handbrake lever and the brake remained on. Grahame, usually a depot mechanic, was sent out when the bus broke down as the firm's own breakdown unit was busy. However the jury heard that Grahame was experienced enough to undertake roadside repairs, despite not being trained in breakdown recovery.
Clive Peacock
Clive, a self-employed construction worker, died after a fall from a ladder. The inquest at Avon Coroner's Court held on 25 January 2006 returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'.
Timothy Morris
Timothy, the owner of Laserline engineering Ltd in Bristol, was killed after a piece of machinery he was operating hit him on the head. Timothy was using a laser metal cutting machine at his business when he was hit by its sliding gantry. Timothy was taken to hospital but died two days later of massive head injuries. The inquest at Avon Coroner's Court held in Kings Weston heard that safety systems were often overridden. Machine operator Anthony Loveridge, who worked on the same axle laser cutting machine as Timothy, said the gantry moved quickly, which meant if the operator was working in the area, they had to move fast to stay out of its way. The jury returned a narrative verdict. It found (by a majority of eight to two) that the safety features, or lack of them, on the Axel machine did not contribute to the incident. The jury found however that Timothy's frequent disabling of safety mechanisms were a contributory factor as were the design features of the machine, in that they could be easily overridden and thus encouraged unsafe practices. The jury found also that the state of the conveyor belt contributed to Timothy's death in that its continuous delays encouraged unsafe practices. Back to Table (2001) Roy Davies
Roy, a qualified tree surgeon, was found unconscious by his colleagues while felling trees at the Bath Spa University campus in Corston on December 10 2005. He died three days later at the Royal United Hospital in Bath from spinal injuries. Roy, who ran Three Counties Tree and Garden Services, and his workforce had been at the campus to fell two trees. The inquest at Avon Coroner's Court held in Kings Weston on 21 November 2006 heard that, while no one had seen what had happened on the morning of the incident, Roy's employees Wayne Curtis and Darren Herrington believed their boss might have been hit by a branch falling from the tree next to the ash that had been felled. Pathologist Dr John Mitchard had told the jury that it was his opinion that a glancing blow to the back of the head could have caused the injury. Both Mr Curtis and Mr Herrington had told the inquest that Mr Davies, who usually wore a hard hat, had not done so that day. But the jury heard from health and safety inspectors Ian Whittles and Steven Richardson that even if Roy had worn one, it probably would not have saved him. Mr Richardson said that after investigating the incident they had come to the conclusion that there were very few departures from standard working practice that they could point to in Roy's business. The jury returned an unanimous verdict of 'Accidental Death'.
Steven Cosh
Steven died at Stoke Hill Mine in Limpley Stoke, after being pinned under a one-and-a-half ton lump of limestone that fell from the mine roof. Steven had been working alone beyond the furthest line of roof bolts used to secure the ceiling. He had been using a mechanical saw to cut into limestone when the boulder crashed down on him. Workmates tried to save Steven's life, moving the boulder with a fork-lift truck and then taking him to the mine entrance in the bucket of a digger. But despite their desperate efforts, he was dead on arrival at hospital. A post-mortem examination revealed his death was caused by multiple injuries. The inquest held at Avon Coroner's Court in Bristol opened on 15 October 2007. The jury returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'. Working procedures at the Bath Stone Group mine have been changed since Steven's death, and workers are now prohibited from working in areas without either permanent roof bolts or temporary supports on the mine's ceiling, the inquest heard. Deputy Avon Coroner Brian Whitehouse said he would write to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommending a review of the support systems in other mines where Bath stone was excavated, and to look at the circumstances in which men are allowed to work alone at a rock face. Steven's family, including his widow Sarah Anne, delivered a statement after the hearing through their solicitor, Mick Antoniw. It said, 'Steven died because he was working under unsupported ground. It is the family's belief, on the evidence they have heard, that this tragic event could have been avoided by ensuring that no miner worked under unsupported ground. We are comforted to know that the mine has now taken steps to ensure that such an accident cannot happen again. Our hope, and wish, now, is that miners in other Bath Stone mines will benefit from the lessons learned and will implement similar safety measures to ensure no other family has to suffer what we have.' The family also thanked all the workers in the mine who helped trying to rescue Steven. Mr Antoniw confirmed that papers would be served soon in the civil court against Bath Stone Group Mines inspector Tony Foster said the HSE would take the coroner's comments into consideration.
Back to Table (2001) Steven Watson
Steven, a construction worker, fell to his death at Bristol International Airport. An inquest at Avon Coroner's Court in Bristol opened on 5 February 2008. Steven fell more than 40ft on to a concrete floor after his employers provided 'inadequate' safety guidance and he fell through the PVC tarpaulin he was removing from a hangar roof, the inquest heard. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Steve Frain was concerned that sub-contractors Rubb Building Systems had 'failed' to provide specific safety guidance for the job of dismantling the metal-framed structure. Steven, from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, was part of a four-man team carrying out the work when the fatal fall happened. He had been raised up to the roof in a Mobile Elevated Work Platform (MEWP), operated by colleague Gary Stephenson. At about 9.40am, having cut a 15m wide strip of PVC to remove it, the inquest heard he accidentally stepped on a section he had already cut and fell through the roof, dying from multiple internal injuries. It emerged at the inquest at Kings Weston House that Steven was not wearing a body harness and was not attached to anything as he worked on the apex of the hangar. A toxicologist report showed Steven's blood contained 147mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood - almost twice the drink-drive limit. Mr Frain told the jury that Rubb Buildings, which was subcontracted by Fitzpatrick Contractors to work on the metal structure built by Rubb in 1998, did not have a 'safe system of work' in place. Workers were advised to wear harnesses and had been given an induction on the site, but he said the health and safety plan was 'too generic'. Recalling his initial investigations, Mr Frain said, 'With these sorts of documents being the plan of work, I became concerned there could be a risk of serious injury if this work continued with these procedures in place. I did not understand how a person cutting the PVC while on the roof could have been secured while moving on the roof, even if he had been wearing a harness.' Mr Frain was not satisfied that Michael Halpin, Rubb's on-site supervisor, had left it to Mr Watson's discretion to work from the roof. Mr Frain added, '[Mr Halpin's] understanding was that he would attach himself to the roof. He was unable to explain which part of the roof would be a suitable harness point or how he would be able to stay attached and still move around to cut the PVC.' Det Sgt Samantha Ayres told the inquest, 'There were three factors - he was allowed to climb on to the roof of the structure, he had failed to put on his safety harness and he had consumed such a quantity of alcohol the previous night that he was almost twice the driving limit.' It was revealed at the hearing that Steven was being treated for depression and should not have been allowed on the roof.
Back to Table (2001) Lee Mason
Lee, a farm worker, was crushed to death inside an industrial recycling machine at Ridings Farm in Dundry, near Bristol. It is thought his clothing may have been caught in the machine's conveyor belt and he was then dragged inside.Lee died when his neck was broken by the machine. Ridings Farm is owned by the Hill family, who run a skip hire business on the site. An inquest will be held at Avon Coroner's Court on a date yet to be set.
Back to Table (2001) Bert Reeves
Bert suffered serious head injuries after an incident involving a skip lorry at in Shanley's Green Lane scrapyard, in Trowbridge. Bert was airlifted to Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, but died from his injuries later that night. An inquest will be held at Avon Coroner's Court on a date yet to be set.
Back to Table (2001) Phil Hames
Phil, a shuttering carpenter, was employed by Bristol-based recruitment agency Thatcher Associates and was working for Creagh Concretes, who were contracted by HBG Construction to work at Bath University.on new student accommodation. he was crushed to death by a concrete block. An inquest will be held at Avon Coroner's Court on a date yet to be set.
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