A forklift driver’s death at Ward Brothers was ruled as a result of haulage firm safety failings, including lack of training and risk assessments.
Emergency services rushed to the depot on Dormor Way and found the 30-year-old unresponsive. CPR was performed on Gary, who lived on Ida Road in Middlesbrough. He suffered a brain injury and died two days later at James Cook University Hospital.
Gary’s family attended the inquest after five years, searching for answers. His father’s statement said they lost the future, the grandchildren Gary might have had. The whole family is broken by this loss and don’t understand how he died at work.
The firm’s ex-transport manager gave evidence that Gary started in October 2018, three months before his death. He did warehouse work and forklift work. In December 2018, they got a shipping contract as Asda moved goods from China to Teesport.
Ward Brothers moved containers from Teesport to Asda warehouses and collected the empty containers. On January 8, Gary was in a container and became trapped under metal framework. This framework weighed about 150kg.
The former manager got a call at 7:15 am about the accident and that Gary was trapped. At 7:27 am, he got another call that Gary was in cardiac arrest and his family needed contacting quickly. He was trapped by the neck tightly.
A post-mortem exam was done by Dr. David Scoones. He said the cause of death was asphyxia from pressure on his head, neck, and chest; a metal structure caused all of this.
The former manager stated Gary had no issues and called him a “brilliant worker.” He gave Gary training, and Gary learned to dismantle the frames confidently. The manager was shocked by the accident and didn’t understand it.
A worker admitted safety failings on Tuesday. Another worker said the processes were unsafe for unloading the containers. The senior coroner asked if he agreed and he answered yes. The company made improvements since, but the jury still found unsafe practices.
The jury gave their verdict on Friday. Gary died from injuries sustained at Ward Bros while trapped by metal frames. This occurred on January 8, 2019. His death was impacted by a number of key specific factors at play.
There wasn’t a suitable risk assessment set up, and safe practices weren’t in place either. These were needed before unloading containers. Ward Bros didn’t consider the hazards for removing and sorting frames. This should’ve been done prior to work commencing.
The logistics of storing frames was not assessed. Gary didn’t receive adequate training for the unloading role, and there was not enough supervision generally. Employees voiced safety concerns to Ward Bros, but their concerns were not listened to.
The company valued completing tasks over safety. Gary acted as directed trying to stand frames on the morning of January 8, 2019. Moving those frames was very unsafe, and a known risk.
Gary and his colleague were not supervised well, specifically on January 8, 2019. Senior coroner Clare Bailey will write a report that aims to prevent future deaths going forward. Ward Brothers offered support to Gary’s family.
