Broken latch led to fatal accident

A worker was crushed to death at a Black Country factory by a falling beam because of a broken safety latch, an inquest has ruled.

Galvanizer David Hunt was aged 49 when the accident happened at Arkinstall Galvanizing Ltd in Tividale on January 16 last year.

A jury was told that the beam that fell onto galvaniser David Hunt was hooked onto a flight bar, which hung from an overhead crane in the workshop.

He was taken to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley suffering from breathing difficulties, neck and back injuries, but later died.

The inquest also heard that following the death of Mr Hunt, an inspection by the Health and Safety executive found four damaged hooks had been wrapped with wire in an apparent bid to fix them. It also showed that a safety catch in the crane, was bent.

Speaking at the inquest at Smethwick Council House, operations manager Paul Harrison from Brook Croft in Sheldon, said he did not know staff were using wire to repair the hooks. "I simply did not know that this was the case," he said.

The jury ruled a narrative verdict that Mr Hunt died after a hook came off the flight bar, causing it to swing into him and that the safety latch, which was designed to keep the hook in place, was not in full working order.