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Nov 13, 2023

Teenager 'crushed to death' by forklift in first month in job

A teenager with a ‘heart of gold’ was crushed to death by a forklift truck just

A teenager with a ‘heart of gold’ was crushed to death by a forklift truck just a month into his new job, an inquest has heard.

Zach Richardson, 18, had completed two days of formal forklift training before joining the team at Elf Farm in Norfolk.

A colleague found the teenager trapped between a truck and a wall on October 24, 2020.

His medical cause of death was recorded as ‘due to compression asphyxia’, Norfolk's senior coroner Jacqueline Lake said.

She said Mr Richardson, of Hubberts Bridge near Boston, Lincolnshire, started working for Lincolnshire Firewood Company as a yardman on October 6 2020. The accident took place just weeks later.

‘He was with his employer, Mr Jenkins, who left (the) site in order to pick up a car,’ Ms Lake said.

‘On return to the site shortly before 1715 hours, Mr Richardson was found trapped between a forklift truck and a wall.’

Mr Richardson was declared dead at the scene after emergency services were called, the inquest heard.

Scott Ekins, who trained Mr Richardson to use forklifts on October 17 and 18, said the teenager ‘seemed very level-headed’, ‘asked a lot of questions’ and ‘took notes’.

Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel KC, acting for Mr Richardson's family, said the forklift truck was fitted with a seat sensor which should have stopped it from moving when nobody was in the driver's seat.

Ms Gumbel told Mr Ekins: ‘The seat sensor didn't work as it must have moved when he (Zach) wasn't in it as you know he was crushed between the wall and the truck.

‘It must follow that the sensor wasn't working.’

Mr Ekins replied: ‘Yes, but he might not have known there was a sensor on there.’

Mr Richardson's father, Kevin Richardson, who was at the hearing, said outside court his son, one of 10 siblings, had a ‘heart of gold’.

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The 56-year-old, who lost an arm in a work accident 19 years ago, said his son was always willing and ready to help others.

‘I’ve trained up all my six sons and Zach was the most talented,’ said Mr Richardson Snr.

‘He was all set to make something great of his life. I never had to ask but he was always ready to help me around the house.

‘Family was everything to him and we feel like we failed him by encouraging him to take the job that killed him.

‘He didn't even get to spend his first pay packet.

‘I miss him like you’d never believe.’

Mr Richardson will also be remembered for being part of a team that reached the final 500 in a global Call Of Duty videogame championship, his father said.

Lawyer Emma Hall of Fieldfisher, which is investigating a civil claim on behalf of Mr Richardson's family, said his loved ones have been ‘waiting a long time to find out the truth about what happened to Zach on that terrible day’.

The inquest continues.

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