Man blamed for his own death after being crushed by pop-up urinal

A man crushed to death by a retractable urinal was responsible for his own death, his company has claimed.

Kevin Holding, 60, died in Shaftesbury Avenue in February 2023 when the pop-up toilet he was working under collapsed.

His long-term partner, Katrina Woods, has launched a legal battle against his employers, Hi-Tech Washrooms Solutions, and is suing for £200,000 in compensation.

He had been working under the urinal – one of many that rise from the ground across London in an evening – when the accident happened.

Katrina’s barrister, Simon Brindle, said: ‘The urinal dropped as a result of a catastrophic failure of a fitting in its hydraulic system. The fitting failed due to excessive corrosion.’

Kevin, from Beckenham, Kent, was crushed to death almost instantly.

Mr Brindle argued that his bosses were at fault for failing to provide training and maintain the urinal properly.

However, Hi-Tech Washrooms Solutions denies liability, instead suggesting Kevin contributed to his own death, saying he was an experienced and well-trained operator who was negligent because he failed ‘to take sufficient care for his own safety’.

Defence Barrister Anna Symington said he had failed ‘to lower the urinal before commencing work inside the inspection chamber’, trying to replace the urinal’s water pump while it was still raised, and failing to ask for help.

She also argued that Hi-Tech Washrooms Solutions was not responsible for the hydraulics and ‘could not reasonably have been aware of its corroded nature’.

The case has yet to be decided in court.

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