INQUEST: CONCRETE SLAB FELL DURING LIFTING OP
Stair landing fell 6m dragging deceased into path of slab
It has been reported by the Evening Standard that an inquest has heard how a construction worker was crushed to death when a one-tonne block of concrete fell on him at a building site in London in November 2013.
The St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard that Richard Laco, aged 31, died when a stair landing he was hoisting into position plummeted from a height and he was dragged into its path whilst he worked on the site of the £600 million Francis Crick Institute in Kings Cross which is a medical research centre due to open later in 2015.
Mr Laco is reported to have worked with CMF Construction, a sub-contractor of Laing O’Rourke contracted to build the Francis Crick Institute.
Pulled into the core and underneath the slab
The Evening Standard reports that the court heard that the landing “slipped loose from a rope holding it in position” which Mr Laco had wrapped around his wrist, and the 1.18-tonne structure fell a distance of up to 6m.
Scott Goodman, who had been helping to hoist the landing, told the inquest:
“I heard a strange noise, like a creaking. I shouted, ‘Watch out,’ and ‘Get out of the way.’ Then I just shut my eyes and braced myself. I heard a boom. Everything happened really quickly. I am not sure what I saw. The next thing I remember is seeing the landing flat on the floor. I just remember shouting, ‘Get it off him.’”
Health and Safety Executive inspector Loraine Charles, who attended the scene, said:
“The work going on was the installation of a staircase into the stair core. There was an electric hoist on the landing and they were lifting it up to position it. They were holding on to the rope and the landing slipped out from one of the taglines and fell down the shaft. The people holding the rope were in the doorway, but Mr Laco had it wrapped around his hand, so when it came down it pulled Mr Laco into the core and underneath it.”
The inquest continues.
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