Workman crushed by falling concrete slab (From Gazette & Herald)

Workman crushed by falling concrete slab

1:06pm Friday 20th July 2001

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NEIGHBOURS watched in horror as a window fitter was crushed by a 1.5 ton slab of concrete, an inquest heard.

The 27-year-old father-of-two was replacing a bay window, in Normandy Way, Erith, on November 15, 1999 when the top of the lintel fell down on him.

Emergency services got to the scene within minutes but he was pronounced dead on arrival at Joyce Green Hospital from a serious head injury.

The jury at Gravesend Coroner's Court returned a verdict of accidental death after hearing the workman could have been saved if he had used supports to hold up the window.

Anthony Dore, from Gosport, in Hampshire, worked for First Saxon, a company contracted by Orbit Housing Association, in Bexley. The court heard Mr Dore and a junior fitter, James Hiron, were replacing the living room window of an elderly couple's house.

Tracey Chambers, 39, of Collyers Lane, was walking her nine-year-old son home from school when the accident happened.

She said: “It was horrific.

“One minute I saw a workman installing a window and the next minute there was bang when the concrete slab fell and I heard his younger workmate shouting 'Is he dead?'”

Health and safety officer Russell Calderwood, who specialises in construction, wrote a report on the accident.

He said First Saxon failed to carry out a proper risk assessment of the building so the fitters did not know the concrete slab above the window had a crack in it and was coming out of the wall.

He also claimed the company was responsible for making sure the fitters installed three supports for the window.

He said: “It is extremely dangerous to fit a window without carrying out a final structural assessment on a property. It is a requirement under health and safety regulations.”

The court heard the company has already pleaded guilty to not assessing the property during criminal proceedings and was fined £5,000.

North Kent Coroner Roger Hatch said: “This is a most fortunate and tragic accident.”

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