A construction worker who died on a Battersea building site when a piece of wood fell from a crane and crushed him may not have had a licence to do the job, an inquest has heard.

New Zealand-born Jack Tangney, a foreman for John Doyle Construction on the Albion Riverside development, was hit by a large "shutter" being lifted by a crane after it had caught on some protruding scaffolding and fell on top of him.

The coroner's court heard how on August 6 last year he was standing in the north-west corner of the Hester Road site working as a banksman giving instructions by radio to a crane operator who was carrying out a "blind lift" from the other side of a building.

Steel fixer Andrew Webb who was working nearby said he heard a crash and looked up.

"I saw the shutter start to drop," he told the inquest. "I shouted to Jack. He'd actually seen it and was running back. The shutter came down at an angle and I saw him go underneath the shutter."

Mr Tangney, 29, was given first aid but died from "multiple injuries" to his head and chest after he was taken to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital by air ambulance.

Robert Causton who was working as a second banksman on the eighth floor of the building said that a month before the accident he had asked Mr Tangney if it would be better to lift the shutters from another part of the site.

He said: "I made him aware of the fact it was getting tight. He told me not to worry about it."

Westminster Coroner's Court heard how the 29-year-old had worked as a banksman on numerous occasions and was respected by his colleagues.

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Coroner Dr Paul Knapman asked Michelle Workeman, from the Health and Safety Executive: "Is it right to say he did not have a piece of paper indicating he had been on a course as a banksman?"

"Yes," replied Ms Workeman, but added the law did not require one.

"We always want the company to be able to show he had demonstrated he had competence. That's what we would be looking for during our inquiries," she said.

The jury of eight men took around half-an-hour to return a verdict of accidental death.

The H&SE is still investigating the accident and has yet to interview some senior managers at the site.

Aidan Grimes from Battersea and Wandsworth TUC told the News: "We still have concerns about safety at work and on building sites in particular.

"We will continue to investigate every death in our area to make sure the H&SE and the authorities carry out proper checks."

12:00pm Friday 2nd May 2003

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