An inquest jury highlighted “inadequate health and safety measures” after a Brighton labourer fell from a roof and died three days later.
The jury said that the risks and hazards were not clearly communicated to asphalter Ernie Taylor and that these shortcomings made a “material contribution” as they considered how he came to die.
Mr Taylor died from “multiple traumatic injuries” after he fell down a lightwell at Essex House, a five-storey block in St Aubyns Gardens, in Kingsway, Hove.
He was treated at the scene – in the basement courtyard – and taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, where he died.
A few moments before he fell, Mr Taylor had been taking photographs of asphalting work from the roof of the flats.
He had his back to the lightwell when he took the pictures on his phone after receiving a request by text message from his boss Gavin Damario.
Mr Damario, 42, who runs Damario Asphalt Roofing Ltd, told the inquest that he had not asked Mr Taylor to go on the roof to take the pictures.
The principal contractor, Stephen Ford, a sole trader, trading as Miles-Hersey, said that there was no need for any work to be carried out on the roof.
Mr Taylor’s family asked why tools were on the roof that appeared to indicate that he and the foreman on the job, Paul Damario, 65, had been cutting felt there.
Paul Damario told the inquest that everything had been within reach from the scaffold where they were working – and that the work had been done from the scaffold.
He said that some items may have been knocked out of place as he paced up and down during a 999 call.
Mr Taylor’s family said that photographs on his phone showed that everything was in the same place as when he took the pictures.
The inquest jury – made up of seven women and four men – recorded a narrative verdict this afternoon (Thursday 19 January), saying: “Based on the evidence, the roof was accessed at points during the ongoing work.
“We are satisfied that the following were a material contribution to Mr Taylor’s death
- insufficient communication regarding the hazards and the risk of injury due to the hazards
- insufficient communication advising not to access the roof at any point
- the risk assessment lacked clear articulation that the roof was not to be accessed at any point
- the roof was accessed at points during the works with inadequate health and safety measures including but not limited to edge protection around the light and ventilation well”
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Mr Taylor, of Lodsworth Close, off Swanborough Drive, Whitehawk, died on his 30th birthday on Sunday 20 September 2020, having fallen down the lightwell three days earlier on Thursday 17 September 2020.
At Brighton and Hove Coroner’s Court earlier this week, the jury heard from Sussex Police investigating officer Amber Evans, from the major crimes team.
She told the inquest that the police and the Health and Safety Executive had carried out a joint investigation.
Initially, they investigated Mr Taylor’s employer, Damario Asphalt Roofing, for corporate manslaughter. And they investigated the principal contractor, Stephen Ford, a sole trader, trading as Miles-Hersey, for gross negligence manslaughter.
Amber Evans told the inquest jury that the threshold to bring charges was high, the burden of proof was on the prosecution and the standard of proof was beyond reasonable doubt.
And the inquest was told that, after the police completed their investigation, a decision was taken to bring no criminal charges.
Rebekah Dunn, from the Health and Safety Executive, told the inquest that the HSE investigation would not be concluded until after the inquest.
The coroner Karen Henderson thanked Mr Taylor’s family for their help during the inquest, including his brother Aaron Taylor.
Mr Taylor leaves a partner, Charlene Tilley, and a son – as well as a daughter who was born a week after he died.
The coroner’s court sat at the Leonardo Hotel Brighton, in Stroudley Road, by Brighton railway station.
