A factory worker died from severe head injuries after being struck by an A-frame racking unit as it toppled over, an inquest jury heard yesterday.

Employees at refrigeration company George Barker in Idle, Bradford, told how they knew colleague James Murphy had no chance of surviving after he was hit by the racking – which had not been bolted to the factory floor.

Mr Murphy, 61, of School Green Avenue, Thornton, had been moved from his usual role in the factory’s light assembly line and instructed to dismantle another set of racking, located close to where the incident occurred on December 1, 2009, the inquest in Bradford heard.

Assembly line operative Glen McHugh, who was working nearby, said he saw the unsecured racking crash to the floor and a “sea of blood” appear.

He told the court he screamed for help and, as the racking was lifted, noticed an orange support bar was across Mr Murphy’s temple.

Assuming the racking, which was already in use, was bolted down, materials manager Christopher Little had loaded some unused components onto it, causing it to collapse, the court heard.

Mr Little said he had been “quite upset” at the incident but realised had he not placed the materials on the racking at that time, it would still have toppled over at some point in the future.

Michael North, health and safety manager at the company at the time of the incident, said the racking should have been bolted down immediately after being moved and it was a “surprise” to find out it had not been.

A maintenance manager should have been contacted to secure the racking into place, preventing it from toppling over once it was loaded, he said.

Mr McHugh, who had attended health and safety courses, said he had never been asked to carry out a risk assessment and a colleague had resigned from the firm’s health and safety committee because it had not met for several months.

John Richardson, a joiner, employed to work at George Barker by an agency, told the court he had never seen a risk assessment for dismantling or moving racking, a job carried out regularly by workers at the business.

Refrigeration assembler Jack Holmes also said he had not seen a risk assessment but told the court he believed the company followed good health and safety practices.

But assembly worker Martin Maystone, a member of the health and safety committee, described procedures as “rubbish” in a statement read out in court and said his recommendations had not been acted upon.

Derek Bower, an industrial engineer at the company, who had been overseeing the relocation of the racking on the day of the incident, told the court health and safety procedures were more of a priority on the lower floor of the factory, where refrigerator components were manufactured, than on the light assembly line.

He said: “You would never in this world think something like this could happen on this floor because of the nature of this work.”

The jury heard varying accounts of how long the unsecured racking had been in place before it toppled over.

Acting Bradford Coroner Professor Paul Marks adjourned the inquest until today.

The hearing continues.