Man killed by lorry at waste site- inquest told

A man died after being hit a reversing lorry at a Biffa waste management site in Bradford, an inquest jury has been told.

James Tabiri, 57, was struck by the vehicle at the company's site in Peace Street on 10 August 2023.

An inquest into Mr Tabiri's death started earlier at at Bradford Coroner's Court.

Outlining the events on Assistant coroner Ian Pears told jurors: "James was working at the site of Biffa and he came into contact with a vehicle...and, as a result of that impact, died."

The inquest was told Mr Tabiri was born in Ghana but had moved to Bradford to live with his wife's family in the years before the incident.

In a statement his family said they had found out about his death via social media, saying that it was "harrowing" to discover the tragedy in such a manner.

They went on to say his death had had "an adverse affect on [his wife] Joyce,"

During the hearing jurors were shown CCTV images of the incident from cameras on the worksite as well as taken from the lorry.

The footage showed Mr Tabiri - who was employed by contactor Smart Solutions Recruitment - wearing an orange hi-vis jacket as he walked across the site.

He was seen to be reading a logbook before he was hit by the vehicle.

Giving evidence, operations excellence director at Biffa, Barry Crews said there was a sensor on the back of the lorry, but said they are generally used for identifying large containers rather than pedestrians.

"It is to allow the driver to know when he is close to the container," Mr Crews said, adding that the camera helps the driver to line up the container and then attach it to the vehicle.

The inquest continues.

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