| It has been revealed that a man died in a serious | | | | he was unable to save himself, when he fell into |
| work accident after drowning. The construction | | | | the water tank. In addition, he passed on his |
| worker was killed after falling into an underground | | | | sympathy to the worker’s family and pointed |
| water tank, in a job that should have taken three | | | | out that a jury had been allocated because the |
| people, but was carried out by just him. The | | | | man died in a work accident. In a cruel twist of |
| inquest jury ruled the employer to be | | | | fate, the victim had only been working at his |
| professionally negligent for the cause of the | | | | employer for one week. He was a driver of a |
| accident, which saw the 47-year-old drown to | | | | telescopic handler on the construction site in |
| death, and ruled that there were ‘defects in | | | | Portrush on the week of his death. He was hired |
| the system of working which contributed to the | | | | by the firm to build a waste treatment plant for |
| accident’. The nine-woman jury also ruled that | | | | the Water Service to help improve the water |
| the worker being a non-swimmer was relevant to | | | | quality at bathing beaches. The inquest heard |
| the circumstances of his death. They ruled that | | | | no-one witnessed the worker fall into the well as |
| the victim, of Toberdoney Road in Dervock, near | | | | he was working alone, moving steel mesh which |
| Ballymoney, was “one man doing a three-man | | | | formed a temporary covering on top of the |
| job” and said there were “unclear | | | | six-metre well, which was around half full with |
| instructions” regarding the work he was | | | | water. The inquest was told it was a job which |
| involved in. The jury further ruled there was | | | | should have been carried out by three people |
| “inadequate supervision” on the site of a | | | | – one driving a telescopic handler and two |
| pumping station at West Bay, Portrush, on the | | | | others to guide the mesh. Terrible work accident |
| day Mr Johnston died on October 6, 2006. Senior | | | | Nancy Henry, from the Health & Safety |
| Coroner John Leckey said it was already found by | | | | Executive, said someone falling into the water in |
| a pathologist that the labourer died as a result of | | | | the tank may have had a chance of surviving if |
| drowning and he said that the jury had to | | | | they had been able to swim as there was a |
| conclude whether or not there were any faults in | | | | ladder in the tank. A lawyer representing the |
| the system of working, which lead to the incident. | | | | employer expressed his sympathy to the |
| He noted that as the victim could not swim, this | | | | victim’s family. Each year, approximately 200 |
| could also have been a major factor as to why | | | | workers drown while at work. |