‘Lack of knowledge’ led to fatal collapse of wall
A grandfather died because a wall he was working next to was being backfilled too soon after it had been built, his inquest heard.
Gary Anstey was crushed by the wall, which he had helped build, at Swainswick Primary School in March 2019.
Avon’s assistant coroner Nick Lane said that the lack of on-site detailed knowledge and experience of the construction of the type of wall led to Mr Anstey’s death.
On March 19, 2019, Mr Anstey’s fellow H Mealing & Sons employee, Roger Jefferies, was backfilling the wall with stone to provide drainage, before it fell.
The coroner concluded that backfilling against an unfinished retaining wall was a contributing factor to Mr Anstey’s death.
“The direct weight and pressure of the presence of a digger in close proximity to the wall and the subsequent compression of materials against the incomplete wall was a contributing factor in the collapse of the wall,” said Mr Lane.
Mr Anstey was taken by helicopter from the scene to Southmead Hospital in Bristol, where he died from his injuries the following day.
Mr Lane said: “There was a lack of on-site detailed knowledge and experience of the construction of this type of retaining wall, and as a consequence there was a lack of appreciation that the wall may collapse when backfilling against a full-height, single-layer retaining wall.
“Due to the enclosed space between the wall and the school building Mr Anstey’s head and upper body were entrapped where he sustained serious injuries.”
Earlier Mr Lane told the jury that site foreman Adrian Williams was interviewed by the police a couple of months later. “He confirmed he was told verbally how to do everything on site, and that he struggled with written instructions. Adrian confirmed that Dave Pell (Mealings boss) showed all of them on site how the wall was to be built, and that he (Adrian) thought that he understood the method of building the wall.”
The inquest also heard from the man whose firm had been hired to build the wall – sub contractor Mark Haynes. He told the jury his firm, Haynes Construction, had been brought in by Mealings as an expert in building retaining walls, and explained the process of building a wall like this to take the weight, and told the jury that a wall like this had to be left for at least seven days before it could be backfilled against.
“The wall had to be 8-10ft high. You have to leave it at least seven days as there’s too much weight,” he told the assistant coroner. “You do this to allow the wall to cure to its maximum strength.”
Mr Haynes told the inquest that the site was “quite normal” and he had no concerns, but “obviously the site was a bit of a challenge”, as the building was “down a drop”.
He said he and his team had left the site the day before as there was no more work for them to do, but they had an agreement to return to erect a fence when the site was ready for it.
The police investigation into the incident which claimed Mr Anstey’s life concluded with no criminal charges brought against Mealing & Son Ltd, or any individuals.
Mrs Anstey and her two sons Shaun and Scott, along with other family members, listened to the evidence in the inquest.