Engineer’s death was an accident - jury
A Sunderland engineer who was crushed to death between the car and lift shaft on a ferry undergoing a refit in Falmouth docks died as the result of an accident, a jury has concluded.
The inquest at Truro had previously seen CCTV footage of Stephen Summerside’s last moments on board the MV Ulysses where he was carrying out inspections of the lifts.
The 44-year-old could be seen manually opening the doors of the lift before stepping on top of the car. Further images then show staff on a floor above calling the lift up.
The staff found they could not close the doors or get the lift to move, but said there was nothing out of the ordinary and they did not report it as they said the lift often failed to work.
Their actions, however, left him trapped between the car and the top of the shaft, a space of about three to six metres, and he was not discovered for several hours.
Evidence from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said there did not appear to be adequate risk assessments carried out and that it appeared the contractors, including Mr Summerside, may not have seen them.
The married father-oftwo had been staying on board the 51,000-tonne ship, operated by Irish Ferries and berthed at Queen Elizabeth dock at A&P Falmouth, since January 5, 2016. He died on January 11.
The inquest heard Mr Summerside died of traumatic asphyxia. He had suffered a head injury, rib fractures, severe bruising and had an open leg fracture.
Pathologist Russell Delaney told the three-day jury inquest: “It would have been a relatively quick unconsciousness and death.”
There were question marks over why the lift was not in safety mode as, if it was, it would not have been able to be called from another floor.
HSE officer Emma O’Hara said: “There was limited detail about riding on top of the lift cars.
“On the day of the incident Mr Summerside was working alone, which requires robust safety systems at work, and documents (we have seen) do not cover it.”