DISTRESSING CONTENT: The video shows the massive lorry reversing through a Ginsters factory loading bay in Callington, Cornwall, moments before 40-year-old Paul Clarke was hit
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Cornwall: Worker crushed to death at factory
Horrifying footage has captured the moment a Ginsters factory worker died as they were crushed against a wall by a reversing lorry.
Paul Clarke, 40, was killed after he was struck by the vehicle as it reversed into a loading bay at a pasty-making factory in Callington, Cornwall. He had recently joined the Samworth Brothers-operated Cornwall Bakery as an intake operator, and was moving strip curtains in the loading bay before he was hit.
The factory worker’s family has remembered the “family man” who they miss “very much every day” in heartbreaking tributes following his death. A video of the incident, which took place at around 7am on Thursday, December 2, 2021, has been released after Ginsters was ordered to pay a seven-figure fine.
The grainy CCTV footage shows the van backing towards a factory doorway alongside dozens of blue craters piled up on the floor nearby. When Mr Clarke was hit by the vehicle he was rushed to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon, where he later died, with his mother, Bernice, saying in a statement: “Our lives will never be the same.”
The mum added: “Paul was a family man and loved big family holidays, which will never be the same without him. I have not been on a family holiday since I feel so much guilt towards Paul, we don’t celebrate Christmas as the date is too close and it is just not the same. Paul and I had a very special relationship between a mother and a son.
“We were always talking and catching up. I would call him every weekend and see what he was doing. He would always come out with us on a bike ride or a walk. We all miss Paul very much every day, our lives will never be the same without Paul.” The video was released after the owner of Ginsters was fined £1.28million after pleading guilty to health and safety breaches.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Samworth Brothers had not assessed the risks associated with the temporarily installed strip curtains and that there was no safe system of work to move them out of the way when the lorries reversed into the loading bay.
The strip curtains had been installed in place of a faulty roller door. The report also found site staff had not been provided with training or instructions to move the curtains and had devised their own methods, which included standing in the yard behind reversing vehicles.
Mr Clarke was new to the role and was working his first lone shift and management failings had not picked up the additional risks associated with this task, the report added. Samworth Brothers Limited, of Samworth Way, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
The company was fined £1.28million and ordered to pay £24,106 in costs at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on November 7 2024.
HSE inspector Aimie Baker said: “Bernice’s words make clear the impact the passing of Paul has had and our thoughts remain with her and her family.
“Workplace transport incidents involving pedestrians are a major cause of fatal injuries in the workplace with 25 such recorded fatalities in 2023/24. Employers should plan their workplace to reduce contact between pedestrians and vehicles. Their risk assessment should consider workplace transport activities, including loading and unloading, and ensure that pedestrians are safe from the risks associated with vehicle movements where they interact. The management arrangements further require employers to monitor and review their measures as appropriate for the risks.”
Ginsters said in a previous statement: “A colleague was taken to hospital and subsequently passed away. An internal investigation has been launched into the incident.
“The thoughts of everyone in the business are with the colleague’s family and friends at this difficult time. We are doing everything that we can to support his family and others close to him.”
Ginsters has been contacted for further comment.