An engineer has recounted the spine-chilling moment he narrowly escaped death when a three-tonne hydraulic press began crushing him ‘like a twig’, snapping three of his ribs in the process.
Nigel Barnett, 59, described how he found himself “accepting his own death” as the machine compressed him after he climbed inside for repairs. With each bone-breaking moment, Nigel heard the crack of his ribs as the powerful press pinned him against the wall; he also sustained a puncture wound leading to acute lower back pain. His life was spared thanks to the prompt action of a workmate who deactivated the press before it could crush him completely.
Enduring what he called “10 millimeters of breathing space”, the engineer was trapped for a horrifying half-hour before being freed and whisked off to the hospital.
Looking back on the harrowing event, Nigel recounted: “I thought I was going to die that day and strangely I accepted it. My ribs were being crushed from the side, pushing them up and forward and slowly breaking them one at a time – like bending a twig until it snaps.
“I had to endure this fear and pain as each one slowly fractured – I could hear them each time.”
Despite the terror, he resolved to face his fate bravely, saying: “I decided to die like a man, not moaning or complaining as not once during my ordeal did I scream, beg, or cry.”
Mr Barnett, from Eckington, Yorkshire, had entered the 4ft by 7ft machine on his hands and knees to address a mechanical issue; a faulty valve that was keeping the cylinder from pressing its die into the steel. He remembered that the top doors of the press were open, which should have caused a short circuit, preventing the machine from activating.
An electrician who was on site to repair the press had informed Nigel that it was set to manual mode, not automatic, implying that it required human operation to function, he said. However, when he climbed inside and nudged the valve with his hammer; the press powered up and crushed him.
The electrician had mistakenly left the press in automatic mode, leading to the machine activating on its own. All the safety mechanisms of the press had been disabled, eliminating any chance of stopping the machine before it reached Nigel.
“It crushed me along the right side of my chest and hips,” he said. “It slowly pressed me up against the metal grill, so I was between the ram and the grill, which is where the bolt holding the grill penetrated my left side.
“I was finding it increasingly hard to breathe and was being rolled at the hips, so my lower back was put under a great deal of force and strain, as my legs and hips were rotated while my upper body stayed trapped. At this point, the emergency stop was pressed and the machine stopped, leaving me with about five to ten millimetres of chest expansion.
“Luckily this was what allowed me just enough oxygen to stay alive but obviously I was in immense pain and I was twisted into a horrible position. I endured that for 20 to 30 minutes.”
After a harrowing incident, emergency services rushed to the scene to rescue Nigel, who was subsequently hospitalised for three days. He faced a four-month absence from work, during which he relied heavily on his family, particularly his wife, for support with daily activities.
The emotional aftermath of the event led him to undergo psychological therapy to help him process the trauma he experienced. Nigel sought legal advice and, after several years, his solicitor secured a substantial five-figure settlement for him.
Now, nearly three years after the ordeal, Nigel has returned to his job in the same industry, though he acknowledges the lasting effects it has had on him. He said: “For the first year or so after I was very nervy and nervous around machines especially when getting into them.
“I still am to a certain degree, but it’s not as bad as it was – with time it changes. I’m just a lot more careful now as I double or triple check everything to the point that it probably bores people.”
Sarah Tagg from Norrie Waite and Slater solicitors, which assisted Nigel with his successful claim, said: “I am extremely pleased to have brought this serious accident case to a successful conclusion for Mr Barnett.
“I can only imagine how excruciatingly painful and psychologically damaging his accident at work was for him and no amount of compensation will ever help him to forget that day at work.
“Employers need to do all that they can to ensure that work equipment is safe and maintained regularly and that thorough safety checks are undertaken regularly.
“They should also ensure that their employees are fully trained upon the equipment that they are using and strictly adhere to the Health and Safety at Work and the Provisions and Use of Work Equipment Regulations.”
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