Accidental death verdict after scissor grab crushes builder's head

A verdict of accidental death has been reached on a construction worker crushed by a scissor grab on a Bradford building site.

Steven Allen received fatal head injuries when he was trapped by the machine during work on a new waste recycling plant in March 2007.

Bradford Coroner’s Court heard that none of the employees of contractor JN Bentley had read a manual describing how to safely operate the grab.

At the time of Allen’s death the machine had been used to lift bags of concrete on top of a wooden pallet despite the manual prohibiting its use for anything other than concrete blocks.