Taunton father's death led to sale of family home - inquest

A disabled woman had to sell her family home after her husband was crushed by machinery, an inquest has heard.

Lorry driver Karl Mitchell, from Taunton, was delivering a shipping container to a construction site at Shirehampton Primary School in Bristol on 17 September 2021.

He was crushed by a stabiliser leg while operating a crane attached to the lorry.

A jury at Avon Coroners Court returned a conclusion of accidental death.

Mr Mitchell had begun stowing the four hydraulic stabiliser legs of the Titan Containers lorry when he became crushed between the front nearside leg and the vehicle.

The coroner, Dr Peter Harrowing, said he would write to two trade bodies to ensure they updated their training on how to use the lorries and that he would write to the Secretary of State for Transport to raise his concerns over cranes already in use.

Mr Mitchell's daughter, Jessica Mitchell, said her father's death had caused her mother to sell the house they had lived in for a decade.

She said: "He was a very kind man and would love to make us laugh, he was a very hard-working man and always wanted to provide for us.

"My mum is disabled and he and I were her main carers. Since his death she has had to sell the family home they had lived in for over a decade as she could not manage the house without him."

Jessica added that her brother had been "lost" without his dad and the family's "whole foundation of love and support" had "been ripped away".

After Mr Michell became trapped, efforts were made to free him by pressing an emergency button, but it was designed to stop the hydraulic arm moving rather than release pressure.

The 50-year-old became unconscious and went into cardiac arrest after being trapped for more than 20 minutes, the jury were told.

The fire service used a device dubbed the "jaws of life" to eventually prize apart the hydraulic leg apart and free Mr Mitchell.

He was taken to Southmead Hospital but died on 25 September from his injuries.

The jury was told the unlocked rotating stabiliser leg had been at an angle of approximately 80 degrees from its downward position, contrary to the vertical locked position instructed by the operators manual supplied with the machinery.

In a statement, Mr Mitchell's wife had told the inquest that her husband had spoken to her about intermittent problems with the lorry's legs.

Stuart Thorley, transport manager for Titan said he spoke to Mr Mitchell several times a week but that he did not recall Mr Mitchell reporting any faults.

There was an issue with a hydraulic leak on the leg which had been repaired in July 2021, the inquest was told.

The inquest heard from Ian Whittles, an inspector from the Health and Safety Executive who said he did not find any mechanical or electrical faults on the vehicle that could have caused the incident.

He said there is a seven-step sequence for operating the legs and only one control should be used at a time.

In his report, he concluded: "Two controls had been operated at once, which would not been in accordance with the safe systems at work and it managed to catch Mr Mitchell unawares."

Mr Whittles said the risk assessment supplied by his employer, Titan Containers, was in line with BS EN Standards but it had since been updated to include specific warnings of the risk of fatality by crushing when deploying or retracting the legs.

All lorry loaded crane operators are required to be trained and accredited by an industry body but Mr Whittles said there was no formal monitoring to make sure procedures are followed across the industry as a whole.

As a result of Mr Mitchell's death, a training video has been created by the industry to specifically demonstrate the correct operation of the stabiliser legs.

The coroner said he would write to the trade bodies to ensure they update their training models to avoid crush injuries.

"If I don't receive a satisfactory response I will write a report to prevent future deaths recommending that they do so," he said.

The coroner went on to say that new vehicles made by British and European standards will be designed to not have a crush zone.

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