Death of 'gentle giant' was an accident, inquest hears
A "gentle giant" fell under the wheels of a lorry as it collected grain at an industrial unit, an inquest heard.
Edward Orlopp, 45, was killed as he directed trucks at the Camgrain storage facility at Linton, Cambridgeshire, on 27 July 2016. An earlier post-mortem examination concluded he died of "multiple soft tissue and bone injuries". Mr Orlopp's family described him as an "honourable, trustworthy and loving man" who will be "terribly missed". Read more Cambridgeshire stories here Camgrain is the UK's largest farming co-operative, providing storage for wheat and other crops at four sites. Mr Orlopp, from Bury St Edmunds, was the site manager at Linton, where he had worked for more than 20 years. Driver Gary Sadler explained how he had checked the mirrors around his 50ft lorry, but "did not see Edward Orlopp at any point". Stephen Faulkner, of the Health and Safety Executive, agreed "there were blind spots" for drivers, and "even with a full check someone could walk into a blind spot at any time," the court heard. The jury was told Mr Orlopp was speaking to a colleague on a mobile phone at the time he was struck. A second driver, Michael Hughes, described seeing Mr Orlopp's "hands go up - but it was too late, he went under the lorry". He was pronounced dead at 17:30. Operations director Philip Darke said a number of safety features had been put in place since the death, including improved walkways and barriers around the "multi-hazard site". The jury concluded that Mr Orlopp had "walked probably unseen by the driver" in front of the lorry, and that his death was an accident. In a statement after the inquest, Camgrain chief executive Simon Willis offered his condolences to the family of his "long-standing colleague and friend".