Deceased
Richard Carl Barker
Demographics
43y, male
Date of death
2013-04-23
Finding date
2017-07-28
Cause of death
head, neck and chest injuries when crushed by a metal plate
AI-generated summary
Richard Carl Barker, aged 43, died when a metal wing plate fell on him after he removed bolts from a hopper on 23 April 2013. He worked as a contractor at BIS Industries. The day before his death, site manager Grantley Hamilton discovered unsafe cutting practices on decommissioned equipment and explicitly directed all ATH employees to cease work until a proper risk assessment, boom lift, and crane were arranged. Despite this clear direction—which was reinforced when colleagues advised Mr Barker to stop—he returned to the hopper and resumed cutting bolts. The coroner found no evidence explaining why Mr Barker acted contrary to the explicit direction. While the site had safety procedures (Take 5 assessments and JSA requirements), there was no evidence these were completed for the scrap steel work. The coroner was satisfied the direction was unambiguous and not open to misinterpretation. No recommendations were made.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Male·suicide
Russell Peter Nash, a serving South Australian Police officer and Bandmaster, died by suicide in 2021. Before his death, he complained of bullying and harassment by his Chief Inspector. His former supervisor subsequently…
38y · Female·Multiple injuries sustained when struck by a train
Natasha Stojkoski, a 38-year-old sales assistant at The Good Guys, sustained a workplace injury in October 2018 involving a Work Assisted Vehicle incident affecting her back, shoulders and neck. Subsequently, she reporte…
Male·Multiple injuries due to or as a consequence of concrete wall collapse
Two workers, Ashley Morris (34) and Humberto Leite (55), were fatally crushed by collapsing concrete wall panels on 6 October 2016 while installing foul water settling tanks at Eagle Farm Racecourse. The work system desi…
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —