Farmer, 74, suffered fatal fall working in cowshed
A 74-year-old farmer who suffered a head injury while helping to vaccinate cattle died as a result of an accident, an inquest found.
Frederick John Francis was hurt during the incident at Cottage Farm, in Marton, near Welshpool, on May 15 and airlifted to Royal Stoke University Hospital.
But the hearing was told it was unclear if Mr Francis slipped, tripped or was struck by an animal causing him to fall to the ground. He died four days later.
Mr Francis’s cause of death was given as traumatic brain injury.
The hearing was told that self-employed Mr Francis and two workers were vaccinating a number of 12-month old Friesians one at a time in a cattle shed when he was spotted lying on the ground about 10ft away from the men, who did not see what happened to him.
A report by the Health & Safety Executive read out at the hearing held in Shrewsbury stated that the farmer was using his own gate system to manage the cattle as they moved from the shed to outdoors instead of the recommended “race and crush” equipment.
The hearing was told the inspector found a race and crush at the site, but it was not used on the day of the incident.
Shropshire Coroner John Ellery told the hearing that as a result of the report’s findings it was important that Mr Francis’s widow Susan, a partner in the business, took action to address the safety concerns raised by the HSE.
He said: “We do not know if the injury which led to Mr Francis’s death was due to contact with one of the cattle or whether he slipped. I am not going to speculate.”
