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Deaths in 2001
Deaths in 2001 Deaths in 2002
Deaths in 2004 Deaths in 2005
FURTHER DETAILS OF DEATHS Irfon Thomas
Irfon
died when he was pulled into a slurry tank's fast-spinning mechanism. The inquest heard that Irfon had ignored basic safety and maintenance rules. Health and Safety inspector
Michael Fenny said a protective shield which should have covered the power
shaft, which rotates nine times a second, had been damaged, leaving it
exposed. Nothing had been done to repair the damage and the drive shaft
had not been disengaged before it was approached. The tractor had not
been put into neutral or shut off either. 'Doing any of these things
would have prevented the tragedy,' he said.
David Clifford Jones
David died after falling through the roof of the bus depot. David was washing the corrugated asbestos and perspex surfaces when he fell 35ft on to a concrete floor. David, know as Dai Sarne, suffered a cardiac arrest in the ambulance taking him to Glangwili Hospital and died the following day from a fractured skull. The inquest was held at Carmarthenshire Coroner’s Court on 18 July 2002. David's employer, Ffoshelig Coaches owner Phillip Evans, told the inquest jury that his four full-time drivers were required to carry out odd maintenance jobs. But he had only asked David to hose down the side of the garage. 'The building is 25 years old and its roof has never been cleaned' Mr Evans added. 'I didn't know he was going on the roof - I would have stopped him. I come from a farm and I know the perils of an asbestos roof and would never have asked him or anyone else to go on it.' The inquest jury also heard that that David had collected a wooden ladder instead of a three-piece ladder available. Health and Safety inspector Alan Strawbridge said the roof was of a type which was particularly dangerous. The panels might have looked safe but could suddenly disintegrate under someone's weight. At the highest level of safety precaution he would have expected a sign warning that the roof was fragile, fixed to a gable end, aimed especially at outside contractors. But few firms used them, despite the fact that 44 per cent of all industrial deaths were caused by falls, many of them involving roofs. The coroner John Owen asked Mr Strawbridge, 'There are thousands of such roofs - should every one of them have a sign?' Mr Strawbridge replied, 'Yes, if it is foreseeable that someone might go up on the roof. It is a request I often make. But an awful lot of places don't have such signs.' A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned Frances Coles
Frances, a worker at Corus's Trostre plant in Llanelli, died while working on the plant's night shift. He worked in the 'cold reduction area' of the mill which thins down stripped steel before coating it in tin for the beverage industry. The inquest was held at Carmarthenshire Coroner's Court on 14 and 15 March 2005. The hearing was told that Frances died after he was hit in the neck by a heavy plate. He and eight workmates were working within the mill machinery to change the rollers which pulled the steel through the mill. The team leader Paul Harrison glanced down a corridor and saw Frances with his neck trapped beneath the plate. Mr Harrison turned the switch that raised the plate to free him and as he did so Frances slumped to the floor. An ambulance was called and Mr Harrison tried to keep other workmates, some of whom had known Frances for nearly 15 years, from the scene while help arrived. Colleagues told him to try to talk to Frances, which he did, even though he said it was clear he was already dead. Detective Sergeant Gary Jackson Philips, who investigated the accident, told the jury that a switch operating the metal plate was worn and 'moved more easily that it should have done.' He also said that the latch pin that would keep the plate from moving was not in place. 'Over a period of years staff had become used to the procedure. It was a short cut that was in place,' said the officer. Carmarthenshire Coroner John Owen said, 'That would have ensured that the accident couldn't have happened.' A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. In February 2008 Corus UK Ltd, trading as Corus Packaging Plus was fined £250,000 at Swansea Crown Court following an Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation. The company had earlier pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Regulation 11 of the Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998*. The Court imposed total fines of £250,000 and imposed costs of £42,965. HSE inspector Alan Strawbridge said, 'Heavy industry, by its nature, carries a number of risks, and it was clear from our investigation that there were serious shortcomings in the systems of work in place to manage these risks. Mr Coles was working in the area where rollers squeeze and stretch steel strips, making them thinner. He was assisting in the roll change and had to walk through a gap between the rollers when a deflector plate descended, striking him on the head. 'Employers have a legal duty to ensure safe systems of work are in place to protect their staff and contractors, as well as anyone else who may be affected by their work operations. In this case, safe systems of working were not being actively enforced. This case must serve as a warning to all employers, particularly those in higher risk industries, to comply with their legal obligations to avoid tragedies like this taking place again.' *'Every employer shall ensure that measures are taken in accordance with paragraph (2) which are effective - (a) to prevent access to any dangerous part of machinery or to any rotating stock-bar; or (b) to stop the movement of any dangerous part of machinery or rotating stock-bar before any person enters a danger zone.'
Lyndon Forrest
Lyndon, a window cleaner, died while carrying out casual work in Elizabeth Street, Llanelli. The inquest
was held at Carmarthenshire Coroner's Court on 7 August 2003. A verdict
of 'Accidental Death' was returned. David Thomas
David was taking animal feed up a hill at Cincoed Uchaf Farm, Cwmbach. His brother, Howard, heard a loud bang and, on investigating, found David trapped between the machine's wheel guard and the ground. He was declared dead by paramedics at the scene. Health and Safety inspector Alan Strawbridge reported no faults with the tractor's steering and brakes. the animal feed had not been unloaded. mr Strawbridge said, 'For an unknown reason, David was returning down hill when he lost control.' The inquest took place at Carmarthenshire Coroner's Court on 21 April 2005 when a verdict of death by natural causes was returned. The Coroner John Owen said, 'It sounds reasonable he was taken ill and that is why he didn't unload. The injuries suffered in the accident didn't kill him. He died because of what can loosely be called a heart attack.' Andrea Thomas
Andrea died after she became trapped under a large bale of straw while working in a hay barn on the family farm in Llandysul, Ceredigion. It is thought two large bales fell from a stack above where she was working. Andrea was helped by members of her family and airlifted to the West Wales General Hospital in Carmarthen, but was found to have died on arrival. The inquest took place at Carmarthenshire Coroner's Court on 19 May 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
William Healey
William, a lorry driver, was crushed to death by three tonnes of wood and metal when an overloaded forklift truck tipped its load onto him. William died from multiple skull fractures during the incident at the Betws yard of Timberframe Wale The inquest took place at Carmarthenshire Coroner's Court in October 2007 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. The court was told that staff were alerted when foreman Jason Thomas was seen running through the factory from the back yard, clearly distressed. When factory owner and director Anthony John Evans came out of the office to meet him, Mr Thomas shouted, 'Quick, quick, the driver is under the lorry with his brains hanging out!' William, from Louth, Lincolnshire, was under a load of timber resting against his lorry. Mr Evans went underneath, felt for a pulse in his neck but did not think he could find one. He called for a towel to staunch the blood but was afraid to attempt to move the trapped man. Mr Healey appeared to move, but it was impossible to tell if he was alive or if they were involuntary reactions. The court heard that Mr Thomas, who had been unloading the wood, was in a state of shock and was still having help from his GP following the fatality. Everyone who saw the driver that day thought he was in a hurry. Mr Thomas told police that the driver had asked for the aluminium load, on top of the wood, to be taken down and then put back, so he had assumed that William knew it was within proper weight limits. He heard the driver shout 'Clear', but as he pulled away from the bed of the lorry he felt the forklift tip forward. At first he thought the driver had got inside the lorry, but on looking he saw William was crushed under the load. Police sent the lorry to a weighbridge three times and found that the wood weighed 2,800kg - within the lifting limits of the fork-lift - but the aluminium added another 1,100kg to the load. The Coroner John Owen was told that on the day of the incident the forklift had continued to be operated despite warning lights and alarms saying it was overloaded. This happened continually even with smaller pieces of wood when they were not loaded exactly, said Mr. Thomas. The load was nearly a tonne above the truck's lifting capacity because it was topped by a load of aluminium which should have already been dropped off in Cwmbran. The independent forklift instructor who attended the firm had recommended long loads of wood should be carried on a side-loading machine. This had not been practical because of the size and layout of the Timberframe yard, said Health and Safety Executive (HSE) examiner Jason Stuart Davies. The Coroner said he was empowered to make recommendations to prevent such an incident happening again, but was satisfied that the HSE were dealing with the matter.
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