A teenage apprentice carpenter died after being crushed by a pile of unsecured wooden boards while working alone on a property renovation, a court has heard. Chloe Bidwell, 18, from Trearddur Bay, Anglesey, was working at a residential property on Deiniol Road in Bangor on December 20, 2023, when the boards toppled onto her. Each board weighed up to 30kg, and 28 boards were stacked vertically and left unsecured against a wall.
Fatal Incident and Investigation
It is believed Miss Bidwell may have been attempting to retrieve a plywood board from the stack when several boards collapsed, crushing her neck and causing fatal injuries. Her body was found at the property after she failed to return home and did not respond to text messages. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that Varcity Living Limited had failed to provide safe working practices, adequate information, instruction, training, and supervision. The shortcomings were attributed to the negligence of director David Horrocks.
The court heard that there was insufficient site supervision, no appropriate lone working policy, no suitable policy for storing board materials, and inadequate risk assessment prior to the incident.
Court Sentencing
Varcity Living Limited, of High Street, Bangor, pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £10,080 in prosecution costs. David Horrocks, of Felinheli, pleaded guilty to breaching section 37 of the same Act. He received a 26-week custodial sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to pay £7,886 in costs.
Family's Grief and Call for Safety
Following the sentencing, Miss Bidwell's mother, Clare Stephenson-Brown, said: "Chloe was only 18, full of life, energy, and determination. She had so many talents and dreams: a skilled joiner, a rugby player, a surfer, a skydiver, and a young woman who was about to travel the world and begin her journey towards becoming a firefighter. Chloe died instantly and alone. The fact that she was by herself in those final moments is something that causes us unbearable pain."
Ms Stephenson-Brown urged employers to "truly consider the responsibility they hold for the lives in their care. Safety must be meaningful in practice, ensuring risks are properly managed, lone working is safe, and that everyone who goes to work returns home."
HSE Statement
HSE inspector Rachael Newman stated: "The tragedy of Chloe's death is made all the more jarring because it was so wholly avoidable. Apprentices should not be working alone on a construction site, and Chloe died in circumstances which should never have been able to happen. Chloe's employer had no safe storage system in place for the dangerously heavy boards which were stacked upright and completely unsecured. Furthermore, they had failed to provide the necessary information, instruction, training, and supervision for their young apprentice."
She added that the result cannot bring Chloe back but hoped the sentence brings some solace to her family.
