Grave threat

Feb 22 2006 By Andrew Hirst, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Richard Beaumont, Kirklees Registrar for premises and grounds, said: "Some headstones we tested could be pushed over using just one finger."

The council uses equipment called a topple tester, approved by the Health And Safety Executive, which exerts force on headstones.

Kirklees Environmental Health Manager Andrew Sheard said: "We are responsible for the health and safety of everyone in our grounds, from people visiting graves to those carrying out genealogy work and even children playing.

"Many of the headstones we have tested are very loose. If someone pulls on them to stand up, leans against them or slips and falls against them they will fall over.

"If the danger of them falling is deemed to be immediate we will lay them flat. They will not be damaged and so can be reinstated by a monumental mason."

If families do not do anything about gravestones that have been laid flat the stones will eventually be set flat into the soil on top of the grave, so the inscription can still be read.

Many relatives have been shocked to discover their loved ones' gravestones are so unsafe.

Mrs Glenis Firth had gone to visit her husband's grave at Kirkheaton.

It was tested in front of her and deemed unsafe. She said: "It's quite a surprise, because it looked solid until the pressure was applied."

Some headstones weighing a quarter of a ton are held in place by thin copper tubing.

The Health and Safety Commission

believes accidents and near- misses involving gravestones are under-reported.

But there have been three deaths and 18 other serious accidents caused by gravestones tumbling over in the last five years.

Commission chairman Bill Callaghan said: "The cause of the toppling of memorials has, in the great majority of cases, been linked to inadequate cemetery upkeep and maintenance regimes.

"But poor design and installation of relatively recent memorials are a factor.

"The risk associated with unstable memorials is real and cannot be ignored."

* Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman is due to meet angry relatives at Kirkheaton Cemetery at 1.15pm on Friday. They are unhappy with the council's actions.