Worker crushed by reversing excavator

by Tim Wood



A 43-year-old construction worker has been crushed to death by a reversing excavator while visiting a civil engineering contractor in Wiltshire.

Roland Hillier-Paul, from Andover, Hampshire, was at the base of Crapper & Sons, in Bridge End Road, Swindon, last Wednesday afternoon (31 May) when the incident happened.

Inspector Steve Kellow, based at Swindon police station, explained: "The man was examining top soil in the back yard when he was hit by an excavator. He had been kneeling at the base of the heap of soil when he was crushed by the large tyres of the excavator as it moved backwards."

An ambulance was called immediately but, despite the efforts of the firm's employees, he was dead on arrival at Princess Margaret Hospital, Swindon, after suffering extensive injuries.

Both Swindon police and the Health and Safety Executive have launched an investigation into how the accident happened.

Last week's incident follows the deaths of three men on 21 May when a crane snapped in half on an HSBC bank site in Canary Wharf. Four days later, 150 construction workers held a 30-minute protest urging all contractors to carry out reviews of their health and safety procedures and for roving safety representatives to be allowed on building sites.

Six other workers have also died in two incidents at Avonmouth and Hull in the past eight months.