Steel train crush death accident

Mr Robbins was a 'solid worker'

An inquest jury has returned a verdict of accidental death on a train driver who was found crushed to death at Port Talbot steelworks.

Bryan Robbins, 53, had worked at the Corus plant since he left school and was called "very safety conscious."

He was found near his radio-controlled locomotive. A safety alarm to alert colleagues had failed to go off.

A fellow driver said there had been "constant intermittent faults" with the radio-controlled system.

Initially, it was thought Mr Robbins had suffered a heart attack when he was found at 2015 BST on 7 May 2005.

I would say that Bryan was very safety conscious - I'd regard him as a solid worker Stephen Meyrick, colleague

Efforts were made to revive but without success, the jury heard.

But a post mortem examination found he had suffered multiple internal injuries.

Steve Curry of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the most probable cause of Mr Robbins was death was that he was crushed between the train and the door of the loading bay as the locomotive was pulling out.

Mr Robbins, a widower who lived locally, had worked at the plant since he was 16.

The hearing in Neath was told he had been operating the locomotive via radio controls to move steel slabs.

Train drivers received 'extensive training' the inquest heard

Co-worker Malcolm Price said he became suspicious something was wrong when he saw the train in a stationary position.

"I rushed over to see what was the problem," he said.

"My first impressions were that he was dead. "

Colleagues tried to resuscitate him and the work's ambulance and 999 paramedics were called.

Michael Williams, a member of the works rescue team, said: "He was quite cold and of a grey colour.

'Grief and loss'

"There were no obvious signs of injury, no blood about the person, no obvious risks to his clothes. We thought it was a heart attack."

Fellow driver Stephen Meyrick told the court that the radio control was equipped with safety features that should have alerted others when Mr Robbins was injured.

But he told the hearing that they had experienced "constant intermittent faults" with the radio-controlled system.

He said: "I would say that Bryan was very safety conscious. I'd regard him as a solid worker."

But he added all drivers received "extensive training" and if the normal operating procedures were followed he did not think there was any risk to workers.

Mr Meyrick said that since the accident, locomotives were now operated by two men rather than one.

Speaking after the hearing his family's solicitor Nick Collins said: "The lasting hope of Byran's family is that Corus take every opportunity to prevent such accidents occurring again and therefore other families having to suffer the sort of grief and loss that they have experienced."

A spokesman for Corus said the company would like to express "continued deepest sadness at the loss of our colleague."

He added: "Following the tragic death we conducted a detailed internal inquiry.

"This has reinforced our approach to health and safety which is paramount to everything we do."