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Deaths in 2001
Deaths in 2001
Deaths in 2002
Click on the names below for further case details
Deaths in 2005
Deaths in 2006
FURTHER DETAILS OF DEATHS Stephen Hughes
Stephen died when one jaw from a 3-jaw chuck on a lathes truck his head during a maintenance activity. The inquest took place at West Herts Coroner's Court on 26 April 2002. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Jonathan Bygate was one of four director of the firm which went into voluntary liquidation in April 2002. He was the workshop manager and had his office in the premises where the death occurred. In August 2003 at St Albans Crown Court he was given a £6,500 fine for failure to ensure the health and safety at work of his employees. The court found that the screen the jaw crashed through was too flimsy and not the type specified in the lathe manufacturer's manual. The proper screen should have consisted of two layers, one of glass and the other of polycarbonated plastic. Passing sentence the Judge Michael Findlay Baker added that maintenance procedures had not been undertaken, a proper risk assessment had not been carried out and the staff had not received adequate training. Back
to Table (2001) Clayton Wilsher
Clayton who was in his first week of work as a labourer at the old Rex Cinema site in Berkhamstead, died as a result of injuries sustained following the collapse of the first floor of a flat in which he was standing. The inquest took place at West Herts Coroner's Court on 24 June 2002. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. In December 2003 Nicholas King Homes Plc of High Wycombe and Henry Demolition Ltd of Milton Keynes were found guilty of contravening Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, in that they failed to ensure that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risks to their health and safety. Judge Cripps in sentencing said, 'There was no visible warning making clear to those wishing to explore or enter the flats, the fact that each step on the rotten floor could lead to serious injury or death. It would have been so easy to block the access steps up to the balcony and so prevent unauthorised access. No such steps had been taken.' Health and Safety Executive investigating Inspector, Trevor Tollervey, said, 'Clayton's tragic death illustrates the dangers involved in demolition and refurbishment work when there is a failure to implement safety precautions. Organisations involved in such work must ensure that structures are properly assessed. Safe entry into buildings must be established and employees notified of this at the start of any work. This is particularly so where inexperienced workers are involved. A failure to do so can result in risk to workers, as we have seen so sadly in this case.' Nicholas King Homes Plc was fined £50,000 with legal costs of £8,370.94. Henry Demolition Ltd was fined £50,000 with legal costs of £8,759.44.
Back
to Table (2001) Mark Williamson
Mark was working as a signal engineer when he died. The inquest took place at Hitchin Coroner's Court on 25 June 2002. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Back
to Table (2001) Sam Ball
Sam Ball, a construction worker, was crushed to death by a concrete slab after a part of the lifting gear attached to a crane failed. The slab was suspended 11ft above the floor when a shackle broke precipitating the slab onto Sam who was killed instantly. The construction was taking place at the pharmaceutical firm Merck Sharpe & Dohme on Hertford Road where a multi-storey car park was being built. The inquest took place at Hertford Coroner's Court on 7 February 2003. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. In October 2006 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published a report on its investigation into Sam's death. HSE's findings raise an issue for those undertaking routine examination and inspection of lifting tackle in respect of components that are not visible unless dismantled. The report presented key findings from HSE's extensive investigation and is available on HSE's website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/fatalinjreport.pdf . Forensic investigation by the Health and Safety Laboratory established that a pin forming part of the lifting tackle had fractured in two places and become dislodged, causing one end of the lifting frame to drop. Dave Rothery, Head of Operations (London, East and South East) at HSE's Construction Division said, 'The fundamental cause of the incident was the failure of the pin, which was was defective. HSE's enquiries revealed that the South African-based manufacturer/supplier company was no longer trading and, therefore, that legal proceedings would not be possible. 'However, the investigation findings raise a wider issue for consideration by those undertaking routine examination of lifting tackle and HSE is publishing this report with a view to raising awareness of the circumstances leading to Sam's§§ death and, in particular, the implications . 'We advise that where lifting tackle components are not visible, the competent person undertaking the examination should give careful consideration to the circumstances in which such components should be removed for examination or routinely replaced. Lifting equipment manufacturers and suppliers should provide information on this subject to their customers.'
Back
to Table (2001) Jonathan Hart
Jonathan, an apprentice electrician at the manufacturing concern Chelsing Assemblies Ltd, died from electrocution while carrying out assembler tests on printed circuit boards. The inquest took place at Hertford Coroner's Court on 7 November 2002. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Back
to Table (2001) George Moore
George suffered a fall while working in Watford on 10 October. He died on 4 November. The inquest took place at Hitchin Coroner's Court on 14 November 2003. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Back
to Table (2001)
Hugh Scollan
Hugh, a self-employed lorry driver, died when his vehicle touched an overhead power cable, while waiting for a load of ballast from a combined quarry and landfill site in Gilston The inquest took place at Hertford Coroner's Court on 22 and 23 March 2004. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. In November 2006 at St Albans Crown Court Lyons Landfill Ltd and Francis Michael Lyons (trading as Frank Lyons Plant Services) were fined £80,000 each, and each ordered to pay £35,000 prosecutions costs. The Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) prosecution followed a joint investigation with Hertfordshire Police into Hugh's death. Hugh was electrocuted when the grab of the crane mounted on his lorry came into contact with overhead power lines. The investigation revealed that Hugh parked beneath the overhead lines when waiting for a load of ballast from the quarry. He apparently raised the lorry-mounted crane and sustained fatal injuries from the subsequent electric shock. The site was poorly laid out with stockpiles encroaching near the overhead lines, inadequate signs, poorly designed crossing points and inadequate measures taken to keep plant clear of the lines. HSE Principal Inspector, Mike Gibb, said, 'This was a tragic death that could have easily been prevented. Operators of plant may make mistakes and all reasonably practicable steps should be taken to ensure their errors don't result in loss of life or serious injury. 'I encourage all employers to carefully plan and put into place sensible precautions to prevent their workers, contractors or visitors to their site coming into contact with overhead power lines. Good management will reduce the risk of accidents happening. 'It is also important to remember that vehicles or mobile plant do not need to strike the overhead line for injury to occur. Electricity can arc across a surprising distance depending on the voltage and conditions.'
Back
to Table (2001) Paul Final
Paul died when he fell off the back of a lorry. The inquest took place at Hertford Coroner's Court on 4 May 2004. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Back
to Table (2001) Terence Dean
Terence Dean was a tree surgeon. He lost control of a chain saw and died from the resulting injuries while working in Potters Bar. The inquest was held at Hertford Coroner's Court on 10 August 2004 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Back
to Table (2001) Marcus Ferreira
Marcus,
a refrigeration engineer, died as maintenance work was being carried on
a refrigeration unit at Greggs Bakery in Stevenage. The refrigeration
unit is thought to have blown up. Marcus was partially decapitated inside the baker's shop as he tried to find a gas leak coming from a fridge. The inquest heard how Marcus had asked Ben King his apprentice to raise the gas level to find the leak. There was an explosion and Marcus died instantly. The hearing heard how the temperature in one of the Stevenage shop's fridges was too high and a gas leak was suspected. Marcus hoped to test for the leak by applying a high pressure stream of nitrogen gas to the system and listening for the hiss. Moments later a massive explosion ripped through the shop and Marcus was found lying on the ground. Health & Safety Executive engineer Tony Mellor told the hearing that too much pressure had caused part of the compressor to fly off and smash into Marcus's head. He said he had researched methods of searching for gas leaks on fridges and high pressure nitrogen testing (which marcus used) was not recommended. The hearing was told that the valve from an old cylinder had been used on the new nitrogen gas supply and its gauge showed a reading of 79 bar when the recommended pressure was 19 bar.
Back
to Table (2001) Gareth Thomas
Gareth died as the result of a fall from a barn roof onto a JCB at Brook Farm, Cuffley. The inquest was held at Hertford Coroner's Court on 6 July 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Back
to Table (2001) Alan Carter
Alan, working as a warehouseman at DPT (Wear) Ltd which specialises in the import and distribution of cosmetics and clothing, fell 12ft and died. The inquest was held at Hertford Coroner's Court on 26 and 27 April 2005 when a narrative verdict was returned. On 23 January 2006 at St Albans Magistrates’ Court, DPT (Wear) Limited pleaded guilty to offences under Health and Safety legislation, following an investigation by Welwyn Hatfield Council Environmental Health. The investigation revealed that Alan Carter was receiving a pallet of boxed neckties at the edge of a mezzanine floor. Although a special safety guard was fitted at the mezzanine edge, the pallet was over stacked and, whilst not witnessed, it is apparent that prior to his fall Alan had attempted to dislodge or remove part of the over-stacked load. Although no causative link could be established between the fatal injuries sustained and the offences discovered, the company pleaded guilty to two offences under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations. The company was fined £2,000 for each offence and costs of £17,985 were awarded to the Council. St Albans Magistrates stated that the company had been negligent but imposed a less than maximum fine due to an early guilty plea and previous good safety record.
Back
to Table (2001) Gordon Maidment
Derek Maidment, known by his middle name Gordon, was a foreman groundworker from Redbourne. He was removing a cover to a hole in the basement of a construction site in Harpenden with labourer James Turney when he tumbled almost 10ft into the excavated basement which contained about six inches of water. The inquest was held at West and North Hertfordshire Coroner's Court on 14 April 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. The inquest heard that Gordon and James were removing the boards that covered the hole in the partly-constructed garage in order to clean mud off them. James was carrying the last board at the front and Gordon followed behind. James told the hearing, 'I felt a nudge behind me which normally means go forward. I started going forward and I felt the back of the board drop and then I heard a splash.' Gordon died four days late in the Royal Free, a specialist head injury hospital in London.
Back
to Table (2001) Phil Stafford
Phil, a bricklayer working for Parkins Fee Construction Ltd, was carrying out renovation work at a cottage on Kentish Lane when a 5ft wall collapsed killing him. The inquest was held at Hertfordshire Coroner's Court on 2 November 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. In February 2007 at St Alban's Crown Court Richard Parkins and his firm were fined a total of £25,000 over Phil's death. The court heard that Mr Parkins, who was also a friend of Phil, failed to check if the wall had foundations. Mr Parkins pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the safety of a worker. He also admitted two further charges of contravening health and safety regulations by not carrying out a risk assessment and taking steps to ensure the wall would not collapse. His company, Parkins Fee Construction Limited, faced the same three charges. Phil was digging in a trench close to the wall preparing foundations for a conservatory for one of the homes. The wall was seen to 'wobble' and despite Mr Parkins' warning calls, Phil was unable to get out of the way and the heavy brickwork fell on him. Simon King, defending, said Mr Parkins and Phil had used a 6ft steel pin to test the ground for foundations beneath a utility room. 'Nothing could have been simpler than to turn 90 degrees and insert it under the wall which later collapsed. It was a case of careless error for which he takes responsibility. 'Judge Catterson told Mr Parkins that in her view the case against him represented a 'high level of carelessness' and she described Phil as a hardworking family man.She said nothing she could say could put right the family's loss and the fines should not be interpreted as any sort of value on Mr Stafford's life. Mr Parkins and the firm were ordered to pay a total of £6,000 costs.
Back
to Table (2001) Ricky Cronin
Ricky died from electrocution while fixing a washing machine. The inquest was held at Hertfordshire Coroner's Court on 28 June 2006 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Back
to Table (2001) Philip Edwards
Philip, a refuse collector working for Clearway, was killed when he was run over by a car. The inquest was held at Hertfordshire Coroner's Court on 29 June 2006 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Back
to Table (2001) Michael Miller and Jeff Wornham
Michael and Jeff, two firefighters working for the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, were killed while trying to rescue a woman from a building on fire. The men had gone to fight a fire on the 14th floor of a block of flats after a small candle had been left on top of a television. While trying to rescue the mother-of-two, the fire escalated, the men's breathing apparatus failed and they were quickly overcome by the intense heat and all three were killed. The inquest was held at Hitchin Coroner's Court in March 2007. After deliberating for over three hours the jury returned a verdict of accidental death on Natalie Close, who died of smoke inhalation, and a narrative verdict on both firefighters. The verdict on the two men means the jury unanimously agreed on their answers to 20 points given to them by coroner Mr Edward Thomas. These were the date and location of the fire, why the smoke alarm in the flat was not working, were the crews attending initially familiar with high-rise procedures and the building? the cause of the fire, how the padlocking of the dry risers came about, the use by the crews of bolt cutters at the incident, the number of pumps and the roles of the personnel originally attending, the stage in the incident that further resources were requested, was a bridgehead established and if so when? At what stage did firefighters Miller and Wornham enter the flat without hoses charged? How was one of the occupants of the flat rescued, did the absence of a self-closing device on the door of flat 85 contribute to the fire development-initially in the flat and in the lobby? Did the absence of a self-closing device deprive Jeff Wornham of protection from the fire while trying to escape through the lobby? Where were the deceased found, at what stage had they died and when were they found? Did Mike Miller and Jeff Wornham die of acute thermal injury? In respect of each of them, where were they when they were exposed to that injury? Did Jeff Wornham come into contact with cables? If Jeff had contact with the cables, what contact was there? If Jeff had contact with the cables, when did it take place? Finally if Jeff had contact with the cables, it is more likely than not that he would have survived but for the contact. The cause of death of both firefighters was thermal injuries. Speaking after the inquest Chief Fire Officer Roy Wilsher, said, 'Three people died in the fire that night and the Fire Service lost two brave colleagues. We will never forget the events of 2 February 2005 and the fact that Jeff and Michael saved one life and then tragically lost their own whilst trying to save another. There are undoubtedly lessons to be learned from what happened and I will work tirelessly to ensure that the loss of those young lives was not in vain.' Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service carried out an investigation after the fire which resulted in 94 recommendations that will be put forward by the Coroner. Coroner Edward Thomas is to nominate the men for posthumous awards. He also commended Blue Watch at Stevenage for their bravery. The Fire Brigades Union was severely critical of the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service saying the deaths of Jeff Wornham and Michael Miller could have been prevented. The union report makes 73 recommendations which it says had they been identified prior to the incident, the FBU believes, would have significantly reduced the risks faced by the two firefighters and may have saved their lives. The executive summary identified many organisational weaknesses in the development, monitoring and review of standard operating procedures. 'In particular,' says the report, 'the high-rise incident procedures were wholly inadequate and failed to take account of recommendations following the HSE improvement notice awarded to Strathclyde Fire Board. The breathing apparatus procedures failed to satisfy the provisions of national guidance issued by HM Inspectorate, the incident command procedures were inadequate and omitted many provisions contained in the national guidance issued by HM Inspectorate. The FBU considers the standard operating procedures produced by Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service were inadequately drafted, monitored and reviewed and as a result, were not fit for purpose at the time of the Harrow Court incident. It is apparent that the firefighters and supervisory officers in the initial attendance at Harrow Court had received insufficient incident command training, crew command training, dynamic risk assessment training, breathing apparatus, with both heat and smoke, refresher training and separately dedicated, practical and theoretical compartment behaviour training to deal safely and effectively with the situation they were confronted with.' The report adds that the firefighters were unfamiliar with the premises and the likely risk they would encounter in an emergency as they no longer carried out inspections in these types of premises. 'The deficiencies in training exposed by the Harrow Court incident seem to betray an apparent and endemic organisational weakness in the provision of training in many other operational areas of firefighting,' says the report. 'Predominantly, this seems due to the lack of strategic emphasis, planning, monitoring and review by senior managers of actual training undertaken and in sufficient resource allocation. Would the fatalities of firefighters Miller and Wornham have been prevented had the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) ensured adequate procedures, training and resources? Almost certainly. Would the life threatening risks faced by firefighters at the Harrow Court incident have been significantly reduced had HFRS ensured adequate procedures, training and resources were systematically in place? Without doubt.' In conclusion the union's health and safety investigation said the FBU believes the conduct of the HFRS significantly contributed to the deaths of firefighters Wornham and Miller in that they failed to comply satisfactorily with the Fire Services Act 2004 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The HFRS also, says the union, failed to comply with the national guidance issued by Her Majesty's Inspectorate and failed to act adequately upon relevant HSE improvement notice recommendations available to them Also criticised was Stevenage Borough Council where the report says, 'Nobody reported hearing the smoke alarm in flat 85 sounding at any time. Since it may not have activated and had it done so the occupants may have made their own way to safety, the FBU's health and safety investigation concludes that SBC may have contributed to the deaths of firefighters Miller and Wornham in that they failed to undertake a review of the smoke alarm installations in the individual flats at Harrow Court to assess their appropriateness. The investigation also concluded SBC may have contributed to firefighter Wornham's death in that they have failed to ensure their contractor complied with BS 5839-1, 2002, clause 26.2(f) in respect of precluding the use of plastic trunking for securing cabling in their common area fire alarm system.' Following the two-week inquest, Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU said, 'The FBU investigation concluded the HFRS failed to put in proper procedures, did not have adequate training and did not send enough firefighters in the initial response to tackle this fire safely. But this tragic loss of life could have happened in any number of fire authorities across the UK, it was only by misfortune it happened in Stevenage. There are three families whose lives will never be the same because of what happened at Stevenage on that night. Mike and Jeff's colleagues will also live with what happened all their lives. The entire fire service and government need to learn lessons from what happened in Stevenage. There must be an end to the constant pressure to cut frontline crews and cut corners with training and other safety critical activities. In organising their response to potentially very dangerous incidents, fire authorities cannot be allowed to cut corners. Cuts cost lives and we do not intend to lose any more people in this way. We look forward to reviewing the coroner's Rule 42 report on the incident which he has promised to send to the relevant bodies in the fire service and Government.' After the inquest Howard Miller, Michael's father, said, 'It is crystal clear to me, now we know many of the facts, that these have been needless deaths. My family do not blame any of the individuals who were there on that tragic night. Most of the problems surround training and procedures and procedural training. What the public would view as physical training has been replaced by firefighters watching CD-Roms and reading memos on notice boards. It is sheer folly to do this just to save money and if it continues something like this is going to happen again.' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||