A transport company is set to face charges following the death of a lorry driver who was crushed to death under a pallet of tiles in High Wycombe.
Petru Pop was unloading a Reason Transport HGV in Fraser Road on November 23, 2016, when a pallet of tiles fell on him.
He tragically died at the scene aged 52.
Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), logistics company Reason Transport is due to appear before Wycombe Magistrates' Court on August 28 in connection with Mr Pop's death.
An air ambulance and South Central Ambulance Service were called to help at the scene as devastated neighbours watched on. Police cordoned off the road as a blue tent was put up at the back of the lorry.
After an in-depth investigation by the HSE, a government agency responsible for regulation and enforcement of workplace health and safety, it has been confirmed that the company will face charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
One told reporters she had spoken to Mr Pop just 20 minutes before he died and described the "gut-wrenching" moment she had found out what had happened to him.
She said: "The sad thing was, he was literally parked right outside my house. At about 20 to 11 I went to leave for work and he was blocking my drive. He let me out and we had a little bit of a chat.
“It wasn’t until the next day that I realised. People kept asking me at work what had happened. I came home from work and saw the flowers and I realised it was him, it was just awful.
“I sat down that night and thought ‘I can’t believe it’, ten minutes later the man I had been talking to was dead. It’s that awful realisation that things can happen very quickly.
“It really shook me. I sat on the sofa and thought that was the man I was talking to, that I said thank you to. We see all this on the news and you don’t actually think that something like that could happen.”
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