Heathrow Airport: Coroner calls for improvements after death of worker John Coles

A London coroner will write to Heathrow about concerns raised during the inquest into the death of a British Airways engineer.

A spokesperson for Heathrow Airports Limited (HAL) said the company wanted to express its “profound sympathy” to the family and friends of John Coles who died in a vehicle collision on February 14 2018 at the airport.

The prevention of further deaths report from coroner Richard Furniss follows the conclusion on Friday (July 21) of an inquest into the 44-year-old’s death. A jury found that background visual interference was a contributory factor.

Mr Coles worked for British Airways and was driving a Renault Kangoo van at Heathrow Airport near Terminal 5 when his vehicle collided with a Toyota Hilux safety vehicle driven by a Heathrow Airport employee.

PC Geoghegan, who investigated the collision, told the inquest it was his opinion that several factors caused background visual interference which created difficulties in identifying Mr Coles' vehicle on the crossing. These factors included the sky's darkness at the time of day the incident occurred, the illumination from the nearby terminal building and the presence of aircraft with flashing lights.

Coroner Richard Furniss

On Monday, Mr Furniss announced that he would send a prevention of future deaths report to Trevor Waldock, the head of airside operations at HAL. In his report, Mr Furniss was critical of the time it has taken for HAL to acknowledge the dangers caused by background visual interference.

He states: “This fatal accident occurred well over five years ago. The expert report of PC Geoghegan, which raised the issue of background visual interference as a possible causative factor, was produced well over four years ago. Nonetheless, prior to the inquest, no specific consideration appears to have been given to this phenomenon by HAL.”

Mr Furniss concluded: “In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you and other officers of HAL have the power to take such action.”

HAL must respond to the report from the coroner by September 18.

John Coles

Mark Coles, John’s brother, said: “We heard promises from HAL at the inquest for improvements to worker safety. These cannot simply be empty promises to pacify the coroner. They must result in real change.

“As a family, we will hold HAL’s feet to the fire until they make changes to protect all those working at Heathrow Airport.”

Mr Coles was a member of the Unite union, and legal representation for his family at the inquest is provided by Thompsons Solicitors, who provide legal services to all Unite members and their families.

Heathrow

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “We’re deeply saddened by any loss of life at Heathrow and express our profound sympathy to the family and friends of John Coles, as well as support for those colleagues impacted by this tragic accident.

“We pride ourselves on being an airport whose top priority is the safety and security of our colleagues and passengers, which is why we fully supported the police and the Health and Safety Executive investigation which took place following the incident.

“We are grateful to the coroner, jury and other Interested parties for all their input into the inquest process. We will work with our airport partners to consider the learnings that have come out of this process and update the coroner with our actions.”

Unite union

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Ensuring the well-being of our members and all Heathrow Airport employees is of utmost significance, and they must be able to return home safely after each shift.

“We will strive to hold Heathrow Airports Limited accountable for implementing the promised safety improvements. If there is any failure in delivering these crucial changes, we will defend our members' interests, as safety is non-negotiable.”

Kam Singh from Thompsons Solicitors, who represented the Coles family, said: “After five and a half years of waiting, the family have finally got the information that they were denied all this time.

“This inquest has finally made HAL realise they need to improve health and safety. However, it has taken over five years, and John’s mother is not here to hear the evidence of how her son died, having died last year.

“John was a member of the Unite union, this enabled John’s family to have the legal support necessary to be represented at this inquest and for the civil claim which was recently resolved.”