A demolition contractor has been killed in the latest industrial accident to hit the Sonae particleboard plant at Kirkby, UK.
Dennis Kay, 62, was killed after being crushed by industrial machinery. The contractor was part of the demolition team working on areas destroyed by a major fire in June.
He is the third person to die at the site on Knowsley Industrial Estate, since Christmas. The previous two men, Thomas Elmer, 27, and James Bibby, 24, both from Rossendale, Lancashire, died when they were dragged into a giant silo. These men worked for a company which maintains machinery at the particleboard factory.
It is believed the latest tragedy occurred when Mr Kay brushed the controls of a cherry picker crane he was using as he leaned over the cage, sending it up into a rolled steel girder, crushing his head and body. He is then thought to have fallen up to 70ft into an abandoned building.
Demolition of the fire-damaged woodchip bunkers, which had been put on hold pending a Health & Safety Executive inquiry, has now resumed. Merseyside police had started a joint investigation with HSE but are taking no action over the death of Mr Kay.
Sonae is aiming to be back up to 80% capacity at Knowsley from October. Particleboard production was halted by the fire, although value-added board manufacture has continued.
