A factory worker who suffered fatal head injuries when an A-frame racking unit toppled over died accidentally, an inquest jury has found.

The jury of seven women and three men returned a unanimous verdict of accidental death yesterday following a day-and-a-half long hearing at Bradford Coroner’s Court.

The jury concluded James Murphy, 61, of School Green Avenue, Thornton, an employee at refrigeration company George Barker in Idle, was working in an area where metal racking had been moved but not bolted down, causing it to collapse.

The court heard George Barker had been issued an improvement notice by the Health and Safety Executive following Mr Murphy’s death on December 1, 2009, requiring it to carry out a risk assessment and safe system of work for the racking.

HSE inspector Morag Irwin told the court the business had gone out of its way to address issues raised by both the HSE and its own employees.

When asked by acting Bradford Coroner, Professor Paul Marks, if the tragedy was the result of a failure to bolt down the racking, she said: “It’s the immediate cause but I don’t think it can be ignored that they didn’t have the other elements in place for safety.”

The court heard Hi-Lo, part of Constructor Group UK, which had manufactured the racking, had also been served with an improvement notice by the HSE as it had not issued guidance to say it should be bolted down.

The company had subsequently written to more than 700 of its customers and indicated it would withdraw the equipment from sale.

Range Storage and Material Handling Equipment Ltd, which sold the racking to George Barker, received a prohibition notice after the HSE found it had also failed to issue customers with instructions to bolt the racking to the floor.

David Pattison, the company’s chairman and managing director, said it had sold more than 30 of the racks to George Barker but had not been employed to install them.

He described George Barker as “health and safety orientated company” and said his employees had visited four or five times over the past ten years to check the racking. Mr Pattison said when bolted down, the racking was capable of holding 1,250kg, but otherwise only 38kgs.

The jury heard William Moutrie, a HSE engineer who had examined the scene of the accident, discovered the racking had not been secured to the floor and concluded there was no other reason for its collapse.

After the hearing, Mr Murphy’s wife Susan said she welcomed the verdict. She said: “I was pleased with the proceedings and I am glad it’s over now. I would like to thank all the employees at George Barker, they have been wonderful. Everybody loved James. He is sadly missed.”

A HSE spokesman said: “An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of James Murphy is ongoing.”