An inquest into the death of Dean Christopher Myers, who was struck by a digger on a Ripon construction site, has concluded it was an accident.
Mr Myers, 56, died on January 13 last year whilst working as a ground worker for the HACS group at a site on Whitcliffe Avenue.
The Scotton man’s cause of death was a severe head injury due to blunt force trauma. Today’s hearing at Pavilions of Harrogate examined the circumstances surrounding his death.
It heard that at the time of his death, Mr Myers was stationed in a manhole in a three metre-deep trench, which had been dug for sewage pipes.
Fellow construction workers Lee James and Andrew Temple said it was not unusual for workers to be positioned in the manhole.
Mr James was standing at the top of the trench, acting as a guide for machine operator Mr Temple. Both said the arm of the digger had got stuck, probably on some limestone in the ground, and this was when Mr James saw Mr Myers put his head out of the manhole to look at what was stopping the digger.
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Mr James said he shouted to Mr Myers twice but got no response so he urged Mr Temple to stop before getting into the trench to check on Mr Myers.
The court heard the digger had become unstuck and started to move again, which was when it struck Mr Myers.
‘No sign of negligence’
A statement read out by police officers at the scene said:
“This was an unfortunate accident caused by Mr Myers putting his head out of the hole at the wrong time. There was no sign of negligent or criminal activity.”
In a witness statement, health and safety inspector Benjamin Cairns said it was a typical construction site set-up with no obvious safety concerns.
When asked by coroner Jonathan Leach whether it was appropriate for Mr Myers to be in the manhole, he said:
“If I witnessed that [a construction worker in the man hole] on site I would have asked the person to leave.”
Mr Myers’ work colleagues at the inquest described him as “more conscious than most” about safety and an experienced construction worker. They said they were unsure why he stuck his head out.
After hearing multiple statements, the nine-person jury concluded Mr Myers’ death was an accident.
Mark Smith, managing director of the HACS group, which employed Mr Myers for eight years, told the Stray Ferret afterwards:
Bus leaves Knaresborough on 1,550-mile mission to help Ukrainians flee“We would like to say how sorry we are at the loss of a valued colleague and our thoughts are with the family at this time.”
A van has set off from Knaresborough to transport Ukrainians out of the war-torn country to safety.
The 34-seat bus has been provided by two Harrogate district businessman, Mark Smith of The HACS Group and Ray Allott of Chimneycrete.
Mr Allott had the idea after a chat with a friend called Pavl in Poland.
Pavl said he was using his car to drive 39 miles from his home to the Polish/Ukraine border each night to transport people and supplies.
Mr Allott wanted to do all he can to help so, with support from Mr Smith at HACS, he acquired the bus.
He set off from Knaresborough yesterday afternoon to drive 1,550 miles to Ukraine.
The bus will then be left in Ukraine to be used to help refugees get to safety. It is currently packed with generators and radios, donated by local supporters.
Once it reaches the border it will be handed over to local activists to help get women and children out of Ukraine to other European countries, including the UK.
Mr Smith said:
“It was all Ray’s idea, as soon as he asked I just said ‘yes’. We’ve got to do something and do it fast, there’s plenty of people that need help. Our aim is to get as many people as possible out of Ukraine or further from the Polish border into mainland Europe.
“We’ve put a tracker on the bus too, to see how often Pavl is going into Ukraine then we can send over sufficient funds to cover petrol costs.”
Mr Allott has set up a justgiving page for people to donate to. Money raised will be used for petrol and supply costs. So far it has raised more than £3,000.
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Ray Allott
North Yorkshire Police has put out a warning for motorists to drive carefully on rural roads following snow fall this morning.
The force said motorists should be wary of slippery roads and poor vision this morning.
In a tweet it asked drivers to “slow down and drive to the conditions”.
⚠️WEATHER UPDATE⚠️
❄Areas of #NorthYorkshire are currently experiencing snow fall.
Roads are becoming covered & slippery.
Please #slowdown and drive to the conditions. Allow extra travel time for your Journey.❄
#Craven #A6068 #drivetoarrive pic.twitter.com/yVFj6UFuBX— N Yorks Police Traffic Bureau & Road Safety Team (@NYTrafficBureau) February 24, 2022
The Stray Ferret has changed the way it offers Traffic and Travel alerts.
We will now notify you instantly through app notifications and flash tweets when there is an urgent alert. This could include heavy traffic, dangerous weather and long delays or cancellations of public transport.
To downloads our app, click here.
The alerts are sponsored by The HACS Group.
Traffic and Travel Alert: Multiple Harrogate bus cancellations on the 1A and 1C routesHarrogate Bus Company has had to cancel multiple services on its 1A and 1C routes this morning.
Those affected include:
- 8.41 – 1A Harrogate to Aspin – cancelled
- 9.06 – 1A Aspin to Harrogate – cancelled
- 9.49 – 1C Harrogate to Carmires – cancelled
- 10.14 – 1C Carmires to Harrogate – cancelled
For updates from Harrogate Bus Company, follow it on Twitter @harrogatebus.
The Stray Ferret has changed the way it offers Traffic and Travel alerts.
We will now notify you instantly through app notifications and flash tweets when there is an urgent alert. This could include heavy traffic, dangerous weather and long delays or cancellations of public transport.
The alerts are sponsored by The HACS Group.
