A MAINTENANCE worker plunged 30ft to his death after falling through an asbestos roof, an inquest heard.
Frank Toth, 38, went onto the roof of a building at Minerva Works in Kirkheaton, Huddersfield, to repair panels which had been damaged in a brea
k-in, after being told by his boss to “sort it”.
The general manager of Woolcombers Ltd, David Hobson, told the Bradford inquest that Mr Toth’s job did not normally entail roof work and he thought Mr Toth would take the phrase to mean he should find a builder to carry out the repairs.
Instead, Mr Toth took on the work himself. His workmate, George Wheeler, said he did not see him scale the building but a ladder and a scissor lift were nearby. Mr Wheeler helped him fit the panels after Mr Toth had put them in place.
Mr Toth was later seen working on the ground but, unseen, he went back onto a nearby roof. Mr Wheeler said he might have been trying to establish how the break-ins had occurred, as the unit had been targeted three times in recent weeks.
A worker discovered Mr Toth lying beneath a large hole in the roof later that day. Paul Capper said Mr Toth was moaning and struggling to get to his feet, but appeared semi-conscious.
Mr Toth was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary following the accident on August 28 last year and was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary, where he died on September 1.
Pathologist Dr Mir Mohammed Aslam told West Yorkshire Coroner Roger Whittaker that a post mortem revealed Mr Toth had injuries consistent with having fallen head-first from a height of about 30ft. He suffered a blood clot on the brain, which was removed at the infirmary, but failed to improve.
Dr Aslam concluded that Mr Toth, a previously fit and healthy man, died from devastating head injuries which were 99 per cent non-survivable. He was in a deep coma when he was admitted to hospital and would probably have been unconscious from when he fell, he added.
Mr Hobson said Mr Toth, who worked for a subsidiary firm of Woolcombers called Axel Logistics, was unofficially regarded as the foreman of the site, which comprised of several units let out to tenants.
He added: “I didn’t think for one minute that he would be going onto the roof, because I didn’t think he had the materials to repair it. If I had known he had been on the roof I would have been annoyed.”
The inquest was adjourned until April 15.
sally.cope@ypn.co.uk
