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