Tesco worker crushed
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by Dave Siddall • Tesco could face an investigation into its safety-at-work procedures as well as a civil claim for damages following an inquest into the death of one of its workers who was crushed by a lorry.
The inquest at Whitehaven in Cumbria heard last week how a fellow Tesco store worker unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate Graham Denwood, 30, of Whitehaven, after his ribs were crushed by a Wincanton lorry which was making an overnight delivery of food to the Tesco store in the town.
The Whitehaven jury brought in a unanimous verdict of accidental death.
After the inquest the local council at Copeland said it would be contacting Tesco. The Denwood fami ly solicitor said that Denwood's wife and three children were likely to make a claim.
Driver Dennis Archer from Hyde, near Manchester, said he had been a lorry driver for 20 years and on his first attempt to reverse into the Tesco bay he had been too close to one side of the entrance so he went forwards and then slowly reversed in. He said he could see "fairly well" and Denwood had been walking back slowly waving him in from the back.
Denwood was crushed between the lorry and a steel post. He suffered a series of rib and pelvic fractures, went into a coma and died before reaching hospital.
Whitehaven Tesco store manager Khosrow Sofia said Denwood had been shown a training video highlighting the risks of being trapped by reversing vehicles. A system of traffic lights had been installed so people no longer had to guide trucks into the loading bay.