More staff caught on bin lorry equipment - inquest

David Carpenter was killed after being lifted into a refuse lorry

An inquest into the death of a refuse worker who was caught in a lorry’s lifting equipment has heard other staff also got snared.

The inquest, in Coventry, also heard rubbish caught in a lorry’s lifting equipment could lead to the equipment going up and down automatically.

David Carpenter, 60, suffered fatal injuries in the incident on Guild Road on 19 January 2023.

The inquest also heard staff had not had training in how to clear stuck rubbish.

Two refuse workers told a jury they were not given explicit training on how to clear debris at the back of a bin lorry.

Kieran Jones and Steven Jackson, two of Mr Carpenter’s colleagues and who have decades of experience between them, told the court they had not been told anything specific about how to clear debris that got stuck at a lorry’s rear.

David Carpenter was thrown into the lorry’s automatic compaction mechanism

Mr Jackson, who said things got stuck in the back of machines quite regularly, said he had direct experience of getting caught on equipment.

“Some years ago there was an object half in and half out of the hopper,” he said.

“I leaned over … to push it in with my hand [and] my jacket [got] caught on the hoist which lifted me up off the ground.”

The worker added that he did not report the incident because it happened at the beginning of his career and he was embarrassed.

One worker said he was lifted up by a bin lorry but did not tell anybody

Rafal Gancarz, who was driving the Dennis Eagle lorry on the morning Mr Carpenter was killed, previously said items sometimes got caught.

He explained stuck rubbish could lead to lifting equipment going up and down automatically, even if there was not a bin attached.

A union convener said refuse workers were unlikely to report incidents

Jacqueline Goode, a convener for Unite the Union, said she had also heard of incidents where bin workers had been lifted by equipment, including one involving her own husband.

She explained refuse workers did a “very very hazardous job” but were unlikely to formally report things due to paperwork.

“They just want to get finished and go home,” Ms Goode said. “They don’t want to be filling forms out. That is the issue we have.”

‘Agitated and stressed’

Ms Goode told the court Mr Carpenter, a worker with many years experience, had been “agitated and stressed” earlier that morning.

Staff had been in discussions over new technology allowing refuse collectors to report collection issues on the spot, she said.

She explained some were unhappy with the telematic equipment, which meant extra work on already busy shifts.

“Dave had approached [union shop steward] Jon Wright before he went out to his round because he was, as Jon put it, agitated and stressed over the new telematics,” Ms Goode said.

“He did not want to use it but was told by a supervisor that if he didn’t use it he would be moved off his round.”

The inquest continues.

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