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13
Nov
Landscaping boss defends actions over lawnmower death in North Stainley
Warning: this story contains details some readers may find distressing.
The owner of a landscaping firm has said he was not responsible for briefing an employee who died in a lawnmower incident in North Stainley.
Kamil Grygieniec’s body was found trapped beneath a ride-on lawnmower, which was submerged in a pond near Watermill Lane on October 8, 2021.
Mr Grygieniec, 23, a ground maintenance worker at MHS Countryside Management Ltd, had been operating the lawnmower that day.
The Kubota G23 lawnmower he was riding did not have a rollover protective system fitted, despite it being a legal requirement.
On the second day of the inquest yesterday (November 12) MHS managing director Steven Houston said he was “devastated” by what happened.
Mr Houston refused to answer questions about the incident, which he is legally allowed to do, but senior coroner Jonathan Heath read two statements by him.
Mr Houston said he was familiar with the North Stainley site, as he often cut the grass in the village when he launched MHS in 2000, and would not use a ride-on lawnmower alongside the pond bank.
However, he said it was the company's works manager Robert Dungey’s responsibility to brief employees each morning.
The statement added:
The grass [on the embankment] should be cut with a push mower as it's too steep and this would’ve been explained to [staff] by Robert Dungey.
I was not at the work yard that morning and I did not brief [staff]... but I had been told that Kamil had been told that day not to cut the banking with a ride-on lawnmower.
Mr Dungey called Mr Houston at around 3.15pm to inform him an incident had occurred.
Mr Houston's statement added:
I was told Kamil was found under the ride-on lawnmower. I never told anyone to use a ride-on lawnmower to cut the bank [at North Stainley].
I’m devastated by Kamil’s death… it has had a huge impact.
I was not responsible for instructing Kamil on his job. I would not have allowed any employee to cut the grass on the bank on a ride-on lawnmower. I would’ve stopped it.
Mr Houston added it was Mr Dungey's job to monitor and brief Mr Grygieniec, not his.
‘I never refused to spend money on equipment’
Mr Dungey’s statement, which you can read more about here, said he asked Mr Houston to buy an inclinometer to measure inclines at various sites.
Mr Dungey claimed his boss refused to do this, but Mr Houston's statement said:
I never refused to spend money on equipment.
I had an account with a local mechanic, and neither Robert nor the mechanic required my permission to carry out repair work [on machinery].
I did not pressure any employee to finish their work quickly.
Both my children worked for the company for some years and I wouldn’t have allowed anyone, let alone my own children, to work in an unsafe environment.
Frances Ellis, of the Health and Safety Executive, inspected the Kubota G23 lawnmower operated by Mr Grygieniec.
She told the inquest on Tuesday she saw “no mechanical reason” why the rollover protective system had not been attached to the lawnmower at the time of his death.
Mr Houston’s statement said he saw the lawnmower upright in the pond on the day of Mr Grygieniec’s death and acknowledged the rollover protective system was not attached to it.
He claimed he “did not authorise” its removal and he did not know who removed it.
The inquest is expected to conclude today (November 13).
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