Worker crushed by falling crane

Mr Swirzynski was struck by a 2.4-tonne concrete counterweight

The death of a man when a crane fell on a building site in Liverpool was accidental, an inquest jury has ruled.

Construction worker Zbigniew Roman Swirzynski was struck by a 2.4 tonne concrete counterweight that fell from the crane in Colquitt Street last year. Other parts of the crane were sent flying over a row of terraced houses.

The coroner said the 35-year-old died of multiple injuries and the jury at Liverpool Coroner's Court returned a verdict of accidental death.

Liverpool coroner Andre Rebello said he would be writing to the government about the safety of tower cranes being used across Europe.

He said: "The jury conclude that Mr Swirzynski died as a result of an accident."

The inquest heard how there was a "massive overload" which caused the crane to snap just below the driver's cab and collapse onto the building site, where an apartment block and underground car park were being constructed.

Workers were building an apartment block along with a car park

Geoff Frackelton, principle specialist inspector for the Health and Safety Executive in the North West, said: "The crane crashed down very violently and as it did it turned over and struck a partially constructed lift tower.

"As it did it turned upside down and landed on a building."

Mr Frackelton said the investigation had shown a "gust" of wind of about 82km/h - 10km/h above maximum safe operating speeds, which lasted about one second.

He said it had blown the jib - the arm of the crane - upwards without setting off alarms in the crane's cab.

The alarm checks the wind speed every three seconds and had been changed to sound a warning when speeds reached more than 50km/h.

As a result, a steel rope connected to bars joined to the arm of the crane started to loop behind the driver's cab, the jury heard.

The inquest heard a hook holding a load of concrete columns became caught on part of the tower's lighting.

The crane arm then fell forward, causing it to collapse.

Mr Frackelton said the driver of the crane would not have been aware of the rope looping behind him.

The crane driver Barrie Walker told the inquest no alarms were sounding alerting him to dangerously strong winds at the time of the accident.

Mr Swirzynski, originally from Poland, lived in Dovedale Close, Ingol, in Preston, Lancashire.

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said their investigation into the crane and current safety regulations which are standard across Europe was ongoing.