A man today told of how he found his workmate crushed under dozens of steel pipes. Paul Hopkins died after suffering a series of injuries in the tragedy.
They included internal bleeding and multiple bro-ken bones, an inquest heard.
The accident happened at Interpipe in Budden Road in February last year.
Michael Hickman of Tipton said he was helping 34-year-old Mr Hopkins of Ivyhouse Lane, Coseley, re-arrange a container of stacked pipes.
Mr Hickman said: “I went to fetch a piece of wood. I just heard a crash. When I came back I just saw him in the rack.
“As far as I’m aware the steel inside a stanchon had gone over and he was trapped.”
The men had been fixing wooden batons to even out stacks of steel pipes inside a container so they could remove another stack for an order using a remote controlled crane, the inquest heard.
A jury is being asked to return a verdict at the inquest which is expected to last at least two days.
- Dudley had one of the highest number of work-related deaths in the West Midlands, according to latest figures. Three workers have died in Dudley in the last 12 months.
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