A JURY has ruled the death of an engineer who fell four metres after stepping into a void behind a door was an accident.
Nigel Chester, of Arnold, fell and hit his head on a metal machine used to make gravy granules and OXO cubes at Premier Foods in Worksop last year.
During the two-day inquest, the jury heard evidence from a number of people who had seen Mr Chester, who was 46, testing smoke detectors in the research and development area of the factory.
He had been given a master key and walked through a door which had a sign warning of a four metre drop the other side.
The jury took just over an hour to agree on an accidental death verdict.
Andrew McNamara, assistant coroner for Nottinghamshire, said: "Nigel Chester died at Bassetlaw District General Hospital on May 1, 2013 as a consequence of head injuries sustained following a fall of 4.54 metres above ground level whilst carrying out fire alarm testing at the premises of Premier Foods, Claylands Avenue, Worksop."
"It's fairly obvious what happened, for whatever reason, and we'll never know the reason, he used the key to open the first floor door and fell to his death.
"It looks as though he struck a pipe and then fell to the floor and sustained what turned out to be fatal injuries."
A report on the post mortem, carried out by Professor Guy Rutty, said Mr Chester suffered a number of fractures to his skull.
It said: "There was no evidence of drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his death."
The inquest heard Premier Foods had made steps to make the door more safe following the accident.
They have since got rid of the master key, put a barrier around the door and extra locks on it.
Simon Antrobus, who represented Premier Foods, said the door had been left the door had been left there without a gantry in case a gantry was needed in the future.
He said: "It was left there to enable flexibility. If the machine had been replaced or moved, the door may have been needed.
"That is my understanding as to why the door is still there."
Dee Welsh, spokesperson for the Health and Safety Executive, said they still had an investigation ongoing, but a decision on their next steps would be taken shortly following the result of the inquest.
