The death of a retired Dundee scaffolder after he fell while on a ”homer” last summer was a ”tragic accident,” a fatal accident inquiry has been told.
George Carr should have been wearing a harness while working on scaffolding which had no guard rail due to the method it was being dismantled, a Health and Safety Executive expert said.
But Isabelle Martin also stated that a criminal prosecution was not appropriate as neither Mr Carr nor his workmate David Duff was in charge of the work at a house in Dundee’s Somerville Place when he fell four and a half metres on June 16.
Sheriff Tom Hughes heard that Mr Carr who was 67 and lived in Fintry Drive was declared dead in an ambulance despite the efforts of householder Stewart Clark and paramedics. The cause of Mr Carr’s death was later recorded as multiple injuries from the blunt force trauma of falling from height.
Ms Martin told the inquiry both men were equally experienced and there was ”no instruction from either of them to each other”.
She told the inquiry: ”Mr Carr should have known that a harness should be worn when erecting or dismantling scaffolding and he wasn’t wearing one.”
She said the scaffolding should have been taken down in a ”progressive” manner and a guard rail should have been in place.
The scaffolding had been dismantled from east to west instead of from top to bottom, she said, which resulted in there being no guard rail, while a harness could have prevented the fall.
She agreed with a suggestion from solicitor Gary McIlravey, for Mr Duff, that the scaffolding had been erected as a ”favour” and that in general terms with the people who did this type of work as homers ”safety guidelines are not always adhered to”.
She replied: ”They should be but there is evidence of that.”
Ms Martin also agreed that the two men had worked together for such a long time they ”just got on with it”.
Asked if she considered what happened as a ”tragic accident,” she replied: ”Yes.”
She also agreed that in her report she stated that Mr Duff was not solely responsible for the work and that both men knew equally well how to properly erect and dismantle the scaffolding.
Earlier the inquiry heard Mr Carr was ”fit and able” to complete the task.
Householder Mr Clark said friend and neighbour Michael Garty had suggested that he knew of someone who could help with scaffolding for roof repairs in May last year. That led to Mr Carr’s friend and workmate of 45 years Mr Duff erecting scaffolding at the front of Mr Clark’s home.
It was when Mr Clark asked Mr Duff to return to move the scaffolding to the rear of the property that Mr Carr’s fall took place.
Mr Garty said he had worked in the scaffolding industry for nearly 30 years and had some spare scaffolding which workers at his offshore engineering company used for training. He told the inquiry that it was this, modular scaffolding which had been lent to Mr Clark as a favour.
”Mr Duff and Mr Carr have been foremen on projects we have worked on,” Mr Garty said. ”George had continued working offshore when he was 66 and he could have continued on. He was an extremely fit and able man and he had no obvious health issues.”
The sheriff will issue his findings at a later date.