TRAINING methods at a Merseyside farm were criticised yesterday after a teenage worker was crushed to death by a digger.
Lee James was killed when his JCB rolled down a slope and pinned him against a compost-making machine at North End Farm, Formby, an inquest heard.
The 17-year-old, from Formby, who had apparently left the handbrake off when he climbed out of the vehicle, had only passed his JCB drivers' test three days earlier.
But he should have been put under more supervision after gaining his certificate, an expert told the hearing at Bootle Town Hall.
Health and safety inspector Jim Corbridg e said: "At the end of the day, he was tested and passed. But I wasn't wholly happy about the route he followed to get there.
"So one of my recommendations was that the company should not repeat that means of training."
Lee, who joined WRS Compost Ltd in December, 2004, as a fork-lift truck driver, was trained on the JCB as he undertook tasks around the site. He was then tested and given a certificate that qualified him as a driver.
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