A worker has been killed at a factory near Wolverhampton after becoming trapped underneath a sheet of metal.
It happened as Ross Beddow, was working a morning shift at the Corus factory, Bridgnorth Road, Wombourne, yesterday.
The 20-year-old, of Bewdley, was employed as a sub-contractor by Brierley Hill-based A Hingley Transport Ltd and worked at the plant loading metal on to the company’s vans.
He joined the firm four months ago. He leaves a mother Sandra, dad Brian and brother Brett. Police sealed off the scene after the incident and workers were turned away from the site.
The Health and Safety Executive has has launched an investigation. Geoff Hingley, director of A Hingley Transport, said: “We have still not got the full information and we are working with Corus and the health and safety executives to find out what the cause of this was. Ross had only been with us for a few months. Our feelings just go out to his family at this time.”
Paramedics were after reports a piece of steel had fallen onto the worker.
Spokeswoman Murray MacGregor said: “Unfortunately the man had been trapped under some steel plate and was confirmed dead at the scene.”
A number of staff at the plant were treated for shock, including a man, 32, who was taken to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley for further assessment and treatment.
About 100 people work at the Wombourne Corus factory, a hot rolled processing centre which handles plate and rolled steel coils supplying general engineering and manufacturing companies across the UK. It is one of a nationwide network of service centres handling steel produced at Corus’ mills in Llandwern and Port Talbot.
Wombourne is one of a dozen Corus sites around the Black Country that employ more than 1,100 people. Corus was formed in 1999 when British Steel merged with Dutch rival Hoogovens.
The firm has made big job cuts over the past few years as it struggled to get into the black, but produced healthy results recently, thanks in part to soaring steel prices. It employs 24,000 people in the UK and is at the centre of a takeover fight between Indian steel firm Tata and Brazilian rival CSN.
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