Inquest into Swaffham undertaker's death at work considers safety of machinery she used

A jury inquest is considering the safety of machinery at a Swaffham funeral home after a member of staff died there on 1 December 2023.

58-year-old grandmother Sally Blundell was found in the back room of the East of England Co-op Funeral Services.

The hearing is exploring how the equipment used for moving coffins was operated, and whether proper safety measures were in place.

Mrs Blundell, a funeral administrator, had been working alone at the time.

She was discovered by colleague Stephen Kemp, from the Dereham branch, who attended after concerns were raised by a family who had a pre-arranged appointment at the funeral parlour but found no staff there.

Police officer Luke Heffer said he went through the chapel of rest to a back room at the funeral parlour.

He said there was a large fridge in the room and a “scissor lift” that was “used to lift caskets in and out of the fridge”.

He said Mrs Blundell was “found trapped in the scissor lift”, lying across a bar and with the upper part of her body inside the frame.

Norfolk area coroner Yvonne Blake said Mrs Blundell’s medical cause of death was recorded as “contusion and compression of the chest by an external object”.

Mrs Blundell’s daughter, Lucy Blundell, said in a statement: “I understand she had raised concerns about lone working.”

She said that her mother, of Great Cressingham, was “respected by her colleagues” and had a “wide network of friends”.

The inquest continues.