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FURTHER DETAILS OF DEATHS
Stephen, a construction working for a sub-contractor Newnorth Ltd working at the old Spittalfields site, East London, was moving glass when he was crushed and cut under a large pane of glass. He died from internal injuries and a hospital borne infection on 28 January 2005. The main contractor was Sir Robert McAlpine and related companies were Permasteelisa and A.O. Services. An inquest was held at the London Inner North Coroner's Court on 1 December 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Paul was working at the Oak Oak Common railway depot shunting rail carriages when he was crushed. An inquest was held at the London West Coroner's Court on 13 December 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Balwinder, a construction worker also known as Binder Singh, sustained injuries from a fall on site at 22-23 High St, South Norwood, SE25 on 24 February and was taken to Kings College Hospital where he later died. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was only informed of the case after the death An inquest was held at the London Inner South Coroner's Court on 9 October 2006 when a an 'Open' verdict was returned.
Robert died after being struck by a reversing telehandler while on site at Eastbury School, Barking. Bouygues UK Ltd and Ecovert FM Ltd were employers on-site at the time but it is not clear who Robert worked for. An inquest was held at the London East (Havering) Coroner's Court on 21 February 2006 when a narrative verdict was returned: 'At approximately 11.00 hours Mr Robert William Caston was working at Eastbury School, Rosslyn Rd, Barking, Essex on 3 June 2005. Whilst carrying shelving he was struck and killed by a reversing telehandler. The driver of the telehandler was working alone with a restricted view and no banksman present.' Mathew Gilbert
Mathew, known to his friends as Matt, worked as a carpenter in the construction of a multi-storey car park at Heathrow Airport's massive new Terminal 5 (T5) project and was training to be a civil engineer. Matthew and another construction worker, Parminder Singh, were fitting a concrete slab when they fell 20 metres or more. The two workers were on top of the slab suspended above the ground when the metal structure supporting it collapsed suddenly. Early indications are that the incident may have been caused by faulty bolts on the metal support structure which Mathew and Parminder were attempting to fit. Workers at the site went home on Thursday 4 August as a mark of respect for Matthew, who died in Charing Cross Hospital the day of the incident. His injured colleague was said to be in a serious but stable condition. A spokesman for Amicus, the union which represents thousands of workers on the site said, 'Our members have gone home as mark of respect. Up until today T5 was the safest construction site in the country.' Work was suspended in the area where the incident happened and the Health and Safety Executive is investigating. Laing O'Rourke launched an internal investigation as is Heathrow's owners BAA. Mathew had been working at T5 for two-and-a-half years. He had a flat in London but frequently returned to his home city of Plymouth. An inquest is to be held at the London West Coroner's Court on a date yet to be set.
Stephen Sinclair
Stephen was helping to install double glazed windows in a third floor flat in Greville Place NW6 when he fell to his death. The contractors were four Seasons Double Glazing. An inquest was held at the London Inner West Coroner's Court on 19 June 2006 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Colin Ricketts
Colin, a Transco worker, was working in a confined space outside 42 Sunleigh Road, Wembley. He was asphyxiated when the space filled with natural gas. An inquest was due to be held at the London North Coroner's Court on 14 September 2006. Beyunga Meya
Bayunga, the production manager of of the King George Hospital in Goodmayes, died when he was crushed by a laundry press. Bayunga was discovered by colleagues lying underneath the machine but despite being treated in the nearby accident and emergency department doctors were unable to to save his life and he died from multiple injuries. An inquest was held at the London East Coroner's Court, sitting at Walthamstow, on 26 October 2006 when the jury returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'. The court heard a series of witnesses, including laundry supervisors, managers and engineers fail to explain why Bayunga may have decided to venture into the highly dangerous machine. One possibility explored at the inquest was that the machine was switched back on while Bayunga was underneath the powerful hydraulic ram, investigating a problem. The laundry system had a number of supposedly fail-safe security measures, but the hearing was told how it was common for lint to build up on electronic sensors and bring it to a halt. Changes have been made to the system by the manufactured since Bayunga's death. After the inquest the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was deciding whether to prosecute Bayunga's employers the Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust. HSE inspector Ron Wright said, 'We will put together a report with all the evidence which will go to senior officers. Then if it's appropriate, a prosecution will be started.'
Amadou Diallo
Amadou, a student from Guinea, was working as a cleaner for a contract cleaning firm. He was found outside the private premises he was cleaning in Pelham Crescent, SW7. An inquest was held at London Inner West Coroner's Court in Horseferry Road, Westminster on 20 and 21 June 2006 when a Narrative verdict was returned. The verdict said that at some time between 9 and 9.30am Amadou had been instructed by Mr George to clean the bathrooms. He had been told, with the group, not to clean the windows. It was more likely than not that Amadou fell from the bathroom window, and that as a result of serious injuries suffered in the fall he died later at St Mary's hospital. Emil Feliks
Emil, a Polish migrant worker, fell from a ladder while working on the roof of a domestic property in Twickenham. Emil may have been self-employed. An inquest will be held at London West Coroner's Court on a date yet to be set. Andrew Bates
Andrew, a lift engineer, was crushed to death, when a lift he was fitting safety equipment to suddenly began moving. Andrew was wedged between the lift shaft door and the lift when it shot upwards after a control cable fused. An inquest was held at London Inner West Coroner's Court in Horseferry Road, Westminster on 21 June 2006. A horrified colleague described how he held Andrew's hand as he died following the incident at a four-story terraced office block in Woodcock Street in central London. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expert Dr Anthony Wray told the jury that Andrew would have had a split second to react when the lift moved. Dr Wray said, 'He would have felt the jerk. There wasn't much time to think 'What's happened? What was that? I can't control the lift.' His first reaction would be to try to get off.' Andrew was using an electric cable allowing him to control the lift while he worked on the roof of the lift car but the cable snagged on a bolt causing it to fuse sending a 'rogue' message sending the lift upwards. HSE investigating officer Kevin Shorten said, 'A rogue message was sent up to the control. Whether he then thought 'There's a possibility I'm going to get trapped' and then decided 'I'd better try to get off' and jumped off but didn't make it, is one possibility. Another possible scenario is he could have fallen over with the jolt and lost his balance and was unable to get off in time.' Andrew could have survived if he had stayed on the lift because of a 'refuge' zone between the top of the lift and the top of the shaft. He was discovered by painter and decorator Ronald Mudd who heard an office worker scream. He said, 'I ran up the stairs and saw he was hanging out of the lift and the lift was pushing him up. There were buttons, but I said, "Don't touch anything because you could do more damage." I had his hand and I was trying to get a response because he was groaning. It was a panic, there's a man hanging out of the lift. If we could have moved it two or three inches we could have saved him. At first I felt a pulse, there was a pulse, and I was trying to get a response out of him. It was terrible.' Andrew was trapped at a 'right angle' between the open lift door on the fourth floor and the top of the lift car. He was wedged in by his lower chest at the base of his ribcage, with his face virtually on the lift door. Firefighters cut him free and paramedics gave him CPR but he was pronounced dead at 4.30pm at St Mary's hospital in Paddington. A post mortem gave the cause of death as intra-pulmonary haemorrhage and a crush injury to the chest. Andrew was working for John Brown, a subcontractor installing the lift. John Brown said, 'Andy was a very competent person, his work was second to none. It was a freak accident, the wires touching each other. It's never happened, ever, but the chances of it happening again are there.' The jury was told there were very few safety measures in place because they were being installed by Andrew at the time. The court heard Andrew was using a temporary three-core cable to operate the lift and would have installed a five-core cable within days. However in the unlikely event of it snagging there was a one-in-five chance of the wires fusing on a three-core cable, but a one-in-10 chance in a five-core cable. Andrew had become a lift engineer five years previously and was technically self-employed. The jury returned an 'Accidental Death' verdict. An HSE investigation is ongoing to determine possible breaches of regulations but the Crown Prosecution Service has ruled out any criminal charges.
Michael Hallinan
Michael a bendy bus driver was crushed to death when another bendy bus rolled into him. Michael was fixing brake lights on his vehicle when a workmate in another bus stopped to help. The handbrake in colleague John Hind's bus was not on and his vehicle juddered seven feet into Michael. The incident happened in Greenwich High Road just before 6am when both drivers had recently left Deptford depot and were about to start their shifts. An inquest was held at London Inner South Coroner's Court at Lewisham on 18 May 2006. As he was driving away, Mr Hind spotted Michael ahead of him, standing behind his own bus. Mr Hind told the inquest, 'I got out of my bus to see if I could help Michael. I had only gone two or three steps when I heard a shudder and saw my bus move forward. I climbed back into the bus but by the time I put the brakes on, it was too late, and I saw Michael had been crushed.' Mr Hind then called for help, but Michael was dead, the cause of death being multiple injuries. Mr Hind suffered stress because of his colleague's death and had been off work up to the inquest date. The inquest heard that a 'haltbrake' mechanism installed to ensure the bendy bus does not move when the doors are open had somehow been overridden. Accident investigator PC Steven Gilbert said no mechanical failure had been found on the vehicle. He told the inquest, 'A driver does not need either the foot or hand brake when the haltbrake is engaged. In this case the haltbrake was overridden and the handbrake was not on, which we believe caused the bus to roll forward.' A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
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