Daniel Wilson told an inquest into 13-year-old Amber Worth's death attitudes to health and safety at the Carlton Brickworks site in Grimethorpe, near Barnsley, where she died were reactive rather than proactive.

He said: "There was a culture of doing little after my advice had been presented for over a decade. It got to a point where I made people aware of what was going on but didn't press further. There had been other requests that had fallen on deaf ears - if nobody is listening eventually you stop shouting."

Amber, of Park Avenue, Brierley, died instantly last April when a half ton boulder crushed her to death after she slipped on a sandstone stockpile while playing with friends at the site.

They had gained access to the quarry - a regular play area for youngsters - after thieves and vandals removed the security fence and warning signs so many times bosses stopped replacing them.

Mr Wilson, whose uncle Kevin Wilson is managing director of the firm, said he was responsible for company health and safety issues but had no authority.

He said: "There was a culture of using opinion as fact in terms of health and safety. There wasn't a great deal of being able to influence anybody - there was no authority in my position."

The court heard in 2001 Mr Wilson carried out a risk assessment with quarry manager Jonathon Hirst and recorded there was a high risk of a fatality or serious injury occurring at the site.

He also rated the probability of such an incident occurring as "highly likely but not definite".

Mr Wilson said he had rated the risk so high "because of the amount of trespassers we had and the lack of any kind of method of preventing them".

Mr Wilson said at the time he believed risks to members of the public included falling down the cliff faces, coming into contact with machinery, drowning in the site's lagoons or falling off buildings.

He said he would have rated someone being crushed on one of the stockpiles as a low to medium risk, adding: "I wasn't aware of people playing on the stockpiles. If I had been I would have give it more consideration."

Mr Wilson said following the risk assessment a copy of the document had been put in the quarry file which would have been seen by managing director Kevin Wilson. Either he or Mr Hirst would have given Mr Wilson a copy but he couldn't remember who.

The court heard the firm was in breach of the Quarry Regulations for failing to replace the fence.

Mr Wilson said he suggested it was replaced with a metal paling fence, but although he and Mr Hirst raised the matter their requests for the fence were ignored.

Mr Wilson said despite repeated requests by him, the firm's bosses had failed to send its managers on a four- day health and safety course.

Asked about the attitude towards health and safety at Carlton Main Brickworks Ltd, Mr Wilson said: "It was very reactive. If you had an incident of any note where someone suffered personal injury then it became very important and the impetus would wane until it became not important any more."

Mr Wilson, who left the company before Amber's death, admitted that his father, the former quarry owner, and his uncle were not on speaking terms but denied having an "axe to grind".

He said he'd left the firm on good terms and denied having a chip on his shoulder about his lack of authority.

Mr Wilson said: "I had a chip on my shoulder about me giving earnest advice to my employers and being ignored on a regular basis.

"Without management authority you couldn't implement anything, you could only give advice."

After hearing Mr Wilson's evidence, coroner Chris Dorries halted the hearing for legal reasons.

The inquest will resume in three weeks.

READ MORE
Main news index
Your letters.
Features
More Rotherham news
More Doncaster news
More Barnsley news
Check out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic section
Latest sport.