'Safe systems of work' not in place at yard where man suffered fatal crush injuries

Inquest into death of quarry worker reconvened

*A warning that this story contains information which some readers may find upsetting.

Safe systems of work were not in place at a company where a St John’s man suffered fatal injuries after being crushed by a piece of granite.

The inquest into the death of Nathan Harvey was reconvened at Douglas Courthouse today (6 February).

The 30-year-old died at Noble’s Hospital, on 21 June 2022, after an incident at the Pooil Vaaish Black Limestone headquarters in Ballasalla.

Mr Harvey, who’d worked for the company since October the previous year, was attempting to move an ‘unusually large’ half tonne slab with a colleague when it slipped, trapping him underneath.

He was rushed to Noble’s Hospital but went into cardiac arrest and died at 10.36am; a subsequent postmortem found he’d sustained crush injuries that meant he had ‘no realistic prospect of survival’.

In May last year his employer pleaded guilty to two health and safety offences and was fined £60,000 – you can find out more HERE.

Inquest

Re-opening coronial proceedings today (6 February) Coroner of Inquests James Brooks told the court: “Nobody and no organisation is on trial.”

He heard evidence from fellow employee Sergiu Temeian who said he and Mr Harvey had gone to move the stone – described as the ‘biggest slab in the yard' - at around 8.45am.

Mr Temeian explained that there should have been three members of staff moving it; two to secure and position it into place and one to transport it with a forklift vehicle.  

However, he said the third person – company co-owner Leonard Glassey – was having a cup of coffee at the time the two men started the work.   

Mr Temeian said Mr Harvey was stood facing the slab, waiting for the clamp to secure it for lifting, as he approached the vehicle; when he turned around again he saw it had fallen and Mr Harvey was trapped underneath.

He managed to lift the stone off his colleague so he could ‘wiggle’ out before raising the alarm and requesting emergency help; an ambulance arrived on scene just after 9am.

“He was a really good worker. He was a really nice guy.” – Sergiu Temeian (Colleague)

Mr Temeian told the court he’d received no formal health and safety training from the company and did not hold a certificate to drive a forklift truck – instead, he said, ‘on the job’ training was provided.

He added that it was not unusual for two people, rather than three, to move smaller slabs but added that with hindsight the two men should have waited for Mr Glassey before proceeding.

Questioning Mr Temeian, company owner and director, Rosemary Glassey asked him: “Do you know why you didn’t tell Lenny (Leonard) you were ready?”

“No,” Mr Temeian replied.

Health and Safety

Mrs Glassey told the court she was ‘absolutely not’ aware that the two men had gone off to move the slab without the assistance of her husband adding she was also due to oversee the process.

“I had no thought that the two of them would attempt to do this on their own,” she added: “They should never have attempted to lift a slab of this size.”  

Coroner Brooks asked Mrs Glassey – who has owned the company since 1999 and who took over responsibility for health and safety in 2020 - about the training provided to employees.

“This was taught in words, in pictures, by watching videos from manufacturers, but mainly by experience on the job,” she told him.

“Nobody would be expected to undertake any work without proper training.” Rosemary Glassey (Owner)

She added that Mr Harvey had ‘frequently’ attended the workshop to help move items adding: “I was confident that he’d had enough training to do that, yes.”

The court heard Pooil Vaaish Black Limestone was unaware of best practice information, for moving and storing large items, issued by the Health and Safety Executive in 2010.

Risk assessment documentation also lacked information, there were no written training records and there was no understanding that slabs should be restrained with ratchet strapping whilst being moved.

There was also no CCTV in the workshop area and Mrs Glassey also admitted she was unaware how much weight each wooden A-frame – which the slabs were being stored on – could hold.

The court heard the company had employed an external health and safety contractor to assist with its processes but despite doing an audit it hadn’t observed any slabs being moved.

When asked if she herself had any formal health and safety training Mrs Glassey replied: “No, I haven’t.”

The advocate representing Mrs Harvey, Darren Taubitz, put it to Mrs Glassey that in some respects it looked like ‘the blind leading the blind’.

The Quarry

The court heard Mrs Glassey had claimed that Mr Harvey - who was employed as a ‘quarry worker’ - had spent his first four days of employment in the workshop undergoing training under supervision.

However videos and text messages provided, by Mr Harvey’s wife, showed him working at the company’s quarry alone during that time.  

In a message, which accompanied a video of stone being crushed, Mr Harvey wrote: “I wish I knew what I was doing.”

In another he is heard, whilst driving a digger, to exclaim: “I don’t know what I’m doing!”

When asked why she’d stated Mr Harvey had been at the workshop when he hadn't, Mrs Glassey told the court: “I truly believed that was the case.

“Most of our training would be on a practical basis – so show and train,” she added.

Mr Glassey denied encouraging Mr Harvey to use the machinery at the quarry, telling the court: “I wouldn’t let him on a machine - £96,000 brand new – if he was on his phone.”

“I put it to you that you told him to practice on it didn’t you,” Mr Taubitz asked him.

“No, I did not,” Mr Glassey replied.

‘Hazard Zone’

Evidence was also provided to the court from the Health and Safety at Work Inspectorate which is part of the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture.

It found it was ‘entirely unrealistic’ to expect a single individual to support slabs before they were lifted, that there was a lack of supervision on site and risk assessments were not suitable or sufficient.

Inspector Siobhan O’Connor told the coroner the system of work – including the positioning of the frames holding the slabs - involved placing individuals, like Mr Harvey, in a ‘hazard zone’.

“There’s no escape room for anyone to step out of the way,” she added.

“The system of work put in place was not safe.” - Inspector Siobhan O’Connor

She added she was not satisfied that the training given to Mr Harvey was appropriate and that too much emphasis had been placed on experience rather than skill and knowledge.

Verdict

Coroner of Inquests James Brooks has now retired to consider his verdict.

The inquest will reconvene at Douglas Courthouse tomorrow (7 February).