The widow of a construction worker crushed to death by a crane today spoke of her anger and grief after an inquest ruled it was an accident.

Father-of-two Zbigniew Roman Swirzynski was struck by a 2.4-ton concrete counterweight which fell from the crane on January 15, last year.

Other parts of the crane were catapulted over a line of terrace houses landing in the street and smashed into cars parked next to the site. The concrete counterweight block normally sits behind a crane driver’s cab.

Kataryzyna Swirzynski, speaking through her husband’s niece Monika Litwin, said outside the court she had thought the UK was “safe” but the inquest had not told her who was responsible.

She said: “We have come here today to get some answers as to how and why her husband was killed.

“How can she and her kids live without him?

“That’s important. Who is going to be there for her and her kids to help and support her?

“She wants to know who is responsible for taking him away from her and his kids.

“She is angry because it (the verdict) leaves questions unanswered.”

Mrs Swirzynski, who has a son aged five and a daughter aged 13, moved to Lancashire in November 2006 for Mr Swirzynski’s work.

Mr Swirzynski started work on the Liverpool site in December 2003, his 34-year-old widow, from Ingol, near Preston, said through the translator.

The couple were married in Poland on September 25, 1993.

Today, the jury of seven men and four women took 45 minutes to return an accidental verdict at Liverpool Coroner’s Court.

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

Mr Rebello said “multiple injuries” caused Mr Swirzynski’s death.

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

Earlier today the inquest had 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 in Colquitt Street in Liverpool where an apartment block and underground car park were being constructed.

Speaking about the moment the crane severed just below the driver’s cab 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 around 82 kilometres an hour, 10 kilometres an hour above maximum safe operating speeds, which lasted around a second, 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 50 kilometres an hour.

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 inquest heard that the hook, which was carrying a load of concrete columns on the end of the cable linked to the arm of crane, caught on part of the tower’s lighting.

When the crane turned in an apparent attempt to free the hook the ropes jammed at the back of the cab.

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

He told the inquest: “It is a known phenomenon with tower cranes that the wind can cause them to move backwards.

“If the jib was near vertical it would be quite susceptible to wind.”

Mr Frackelton said although the ropes and pulleys at the back of the driver’s cab had a bar to prevent them “jumping”, these had not prevented the rope looping.

He said: “It is seen even with this bar the rope can jump over the pulley and jam between each pulley.”

Mr Frackelton said he understood there was “constant public access” near the site.

Cars parked in the car park next to the site were hit by part of the crane and the steel rope.

The crane, which was made by the Spain-based company Jaso, was lifting a “very light load”.

Mr Frackelton said the arm of the crane was angled upwards and was inside the minimum radius of operation of five metres but this, in his opinion, did not contribute to the death.

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

Before the inquest opened today more than ten campaigners staged a vigil for improved safety regulations on cranes outside Liverpool Coroner’s Court.

The campaigners, who were from The Battersea Crane Disaster Action Group (BCDAG) in London and Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) held placards with the words “no more crane deaths”.

Some of the campaigners also sat through today’s inquest.

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

ends

1 INQUEST Crane Substitute

(Corrected repetition, amending spelling of Katarzyna in par four) (with pic)

CRANE DEATH WIDOW’S ANGER AT INQUEST VERDICT

By Karl Mansfield, PA

The widow of a construction worker crushed to death by a crane today spoke of her anger and grief after an inquest ruled it was an accident.

Father-of-two Zbigniew Roman Swirzynski was struck by a 2.4-ton concrete counterweight which fell from the crane on January 15, last year.

Other parts of the crane were catapulted over a line of terrace houses landing in the street and smashed into cars parked next to the site. The concrete counterweight block normally sits behind a crane driver’s cab.

Katarzyna Swirzynski, speaking through her husband’s niece Monika Litwin, said outside the court she had thought the UK was “safe” but the inquest had not told her who was responsible.

She said: “We have come here today to get some answers as to how and why her husband was killed.

“How can she and her kids live without him?

“That’s important. Who is going to be there for her and her kids to help and support her?

“She wants to know who is responsible for taking him away from her and his kids.

“She is angry because it (the verdict) leaves questions unanswered.”

Mrs Swirzynski, who has a son aged five and a daughter aged 13, moved to Lancashire in November 2006 for Mr Swirzynski’s work.

Mr Swirzynski started work on the Liverpool site in December 2003, his 34-year-old widow, from Ingol, near Preston, said through the translator.

The couple were married in Poland on September 25, 1993.

Today, the jury of seven men and four women took 45 minutes to return an accidental verdict at Liverpool Coroner’s Court.

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

Mr Rebello said “multiple injuries” caused Mr Swirzynski’s death.

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

Earlier today the inquest had 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 in Colquitt Street in Liverpool where an apartment block and underground car park were being constructed.

Speaking about the moment the crane severed just below the driver’s cab 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 around 82 kilometres an hour, 10 kilometres an hour above maximum safe operating speeds, which lasted around a second, 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 50 kilometres an hour.

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 inquest heard that the hook, which was carrying a load of concrete columns on the end of the cable linked to the arm of crane, caught on part of the tower’s lighting.

When the crane turned in an apparent attempt to free the hook the ropes jammed at the back of the cab.

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

He told the inquest: “It is a known phenomenon with tower cranes that the wind can cause them to move backwards.

“If the jib was near vertical it would be quite susceptible to wind.”

Mr Frackelton said although the ropes and pulleys at the back of the driver’s cab had a bar to prevent them “jumping”, these had not prevented the rope looping.

He said: “It is seen even with this bar the rope can jump over the pulley and jam between each pulley.”

Mr Frackelton said he understood there was “constant public access” near the site.

Cars parked in the car park next to the site were hit by part of the crane and the steel rope.

The crane, which was made by the Spain-based company Jaso, was lifting a “very light load”.

Mr Frackelton said the arm of the crane was angled upwards and was inside the minimum radius of operation of five metres but this, in his opinion, did not contribute to the death.

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

Before the inquest opened today more than ten campaigners staged a vigil for improved safety regulations on cranes outside Liverpool Coroner’s Court.

The campaigners, who were from The Battersea Crane Disaster Action Group (BCDAG) in London and Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) held placards with the words “no more crane deaths”.

Some of the campaigners also sat through today’s inquest.

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