A worker at a Higgins Homes site has described the moment he tried to stop a pallet of bricks hitting a scaffolding pole before it fell to the ground, killing a pedestrian.
Christian Okonkwo, a self-employed slinger, who was working for subcontractor DWG Brickwork, escaped injury after he was struck by bricks on his hard hat during the incident in Bow, east London, on 27 March 2018.
However, Michaela Boor, 28, who was walking past the site, suffered serious injuries and died two days later.
Higgins Homes and four workers are on trial over the incident. All deny any wrongdoing.
Okonkwo, who is not among those on trial, told the Old Bailey on Wednesday (14 October) his job was to act as a slinger, a role also known as a banksman, to guide crane loads.
He had returned to the residential build, which was on the corner of Burdett Road and St Paul’s Way, four days before the incident, having previously worked there for a different subcontractor during its formwork phase in November 2017.
He said that he had asked to see a copy of the lifting plan when he was back on site but was told it was the same as when he had last worked there, so there was no need.
On the morning of 27 March, he said a bricklayer told him they needed a pallet of bricks.
Crane supervisor Dawood Maan, a self-employed contractor working for Coulson Lifting Services, helped him load a pallet to be lifted by crane operator Alexander McInnes, a self-employed worker for London Tower Cranes.
Maan and McInnes are both on trial over the incident.
Okonkwo said he thought the bricks were meant to be lifted to a loading bay he knew near a courtyard at the back of the building, but was told it was actually one at the other side by Burdett Road. He did not know a loading bay had been installed there, he said.
A bricklayer showed Okonkwo where the third-floor loading bay was.
When in position, he could not see the pallet and asked McInnes to jib out so he could get a view of the load.
“When it came into my view it was just very close to the scaffold tube,” he said. “I immediately told him [McInnes] to stop, get the hoist up, stop and lift up.”
The scaffolding pole was one of several sticking out of the top, above the building.
“I knew that was no good, so I started telling him to stop and hoist up,” he said. “I gave that instruction several times.
“I don’t remember how it moved but at that point the load came into contact with the scaffolding tube.”
At first, he said, he thought a protective net around the pallet might hold the bricks in place, however he said the net soon “shattered”, causing the load to fall to the ground.
Last week (7 October), Boor’s friend Chelsea Mustafa described how she felt something hit her arm as they walked past the construction site.
“I didn’t know at first what it was,” she said. “I sort of raised my hand, I was so confused [about] what had just fallen on me.
“Then I realised it was a brick.”
Mustafa said she looked up and saw a whole pallet of bricks in the air above and ran into the road.
“At first, I thought Michaela was clinging on to me,” she said.
“I [then] realised she was underneath all the rubble with just her arm sticking out. At that moment I just stood still, I screamed her name.”
Principal contractor and principal designer Higgins Homes denies corporate manslaughter and failing to discharge a duty under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Crane supervisor Maan, 61, of Ashford, Kent, and crane operator McInnes, 34, of Islington, North London, are accused of gross negligence manslaughter and a breach of duty under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Thomas Anstis, 69, of Banstead, Surrey, a Higgins senior site manager and temporary works coordinator, is accused of gross negligence manslaughter and a breach of duty under Section 7(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Stephen Coulson, 69, of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, the director of Coulson Lifting Services and the appointed person responsible for the lifting plan, is accused of the same offences.
All defendants have pleaded not guilty to all charges against them.
The case continues.
