Worker Trapped In Freezing Water After Collapse

A workplace injury expert at Irwin Mitchell has called for authorities to work as quickly as possible to discover the cause of an incident which led to the death of a crane driver.

The man, who was working on behalf of the Environment Agency, died after the 27-tonne crane collapsed and left him trapped in freezing water in a drainage channel at Mepal, Cambridgeshire.

It has been revealed that the worker was carrying out de-silting work on the Old Bedford River nearby.

The Environment Agency is now working with the Health and Safety Executive to investigate what happened in the run-up to the crane’s collapse.

Commenting, David Urpeth, national head of accident at work claims at Irwin Mitchell, said: “This is undoubtedly a tragic case and I hope the authorities involved work quickly to discover the potential cause.

“Whilst the circumstances are not yet known, incidents like this only serve to raise concerns over the safety of the machinery used by workers, in this case the crane and whether it was fully fit for purpose.

“I hope the investigation into the death will focus on providing answers to such questions, which in turn should go some way to ensuring that any similar incident will not occur in the future.”