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A colleague of a carpenter who died after being hit by a scaffolding board in high winds on a building site has said the company in charge knew the area was dangerous and his death could have been prevented.
Darren Hennesy was giving evidence at the inquest into the death of 28-year-old Edward Fowler, who died following the incident at the site of the Charlestown Shopping Centre in Finglas in Dublin on the 18th January 2007.
Mr Hennesy claimed G&T Crampton Ltd knew that morning that the site was too dangerous for workers and that the wind in that part of the site was much more severe than in other areas.
He described how he and Mr Fowler were walking with one other man across a podium towards the canteen area when they were caught by a gust of wind.
He said the wind was so powerful that their helmets were blowing off their heads.
He described how his friend was hit by a flying piece of scaffolding and fell face first into a rocky surface.
He said there was blood rushing from his ears and his face was purple.
Mr Hennesy said he has been left devastated by what he witnessed and seeing the impact the death of his friend had on his family and children.
He said the company had never come to his rescue from the nightmares and heartache he experienced and said this was a disgrace.
The inquest also heard from two members of Dublin Fire Brigade who went to the site on the day in question.
Graham Murphy of Phibsboro Fire Station described how debris was "flying all over the site" when he arrived there and that he knew the situation was dangerous.
He said he was never warned by anyone that scaffolding was flying in the wind.
Eamon Conway of Finglas Fire Station said he saw scaffolding flying near his colleague as he attended to the victim and got agreement from the company to close the site and evacuate all workers.
The Safety Officer for G&T Crampton, Vincent Howley, told the inquest that ten days before the incident a number of scaffolding planks had become dislodged due to high winds.
He said the site was not closed on that occasion as this had happened overnight.
He said that on the day of the incident he made a call at 9:45am to close the site and that the plank had hit Mr Fowler after that decision had been made.
Mr Howley said that there was no safety batons securing the scaffolding on the lower levels of the site and under cross examination agreed that these batons should have been in place.
He said the company had been working on putting them in place following the incident were scaffolding came loose ten days previous.
Source: RTE
Darren Hennesy was giving evidence at the inquest into the death of 28-year-old Edward Fowler, who died following the incident at the site of the Charlestown Shopping Centre in Finglas in Dublin on the 18th January 2007.
Mr Hennesy claimed G&T Crampton Ltd knew that morning that the site was too dangerous for workers and that the wind in that part of the site was much more severe than in other areas.
He described how he and Mr Fowler were walking with one other man across a podium towards the canteen area when they were caught by a gust of wind.
He said the wind was so powerful that their helmets were blowing off their heads.
He described how his friend was hit by a flying piece of scaffolding and fell face first into a rocky surface.
He said there was blood rushing from his ears and his face was purple.
Mr Hennesy said he has been left devastated by what he witnessed and seeing the impact the death of his friend had on his family and children.
He said the company had never come to his rescue from the nightmares and heartache he experienced and said this was a disgrace.
The inquest also heard from two members of Dublin Fire Brigade who went to the site on the day in question.
Graham Murphy of Phibsboro Fire Station described how debris was "flying all over the site" when he arrived there and that he knew the situation was dangerous.
He said he was never warned by anyone that scaffolding was flying in the wind.
Eamon Conway of Finglas Fire Station said he saw scaffolding flying near his colleague as he attended to the victim and got agreement from the company to close the site and evacuate all workers.
The Safety Officer for G&T Crampton, Vincent Howley, told the inquest that ten days before the incident a number of scaffolding planks had become dislodged due to high winds.
He said the site was not closed on that occasion as this had happened overnight.
He said that on the day of the incident he made a call at 9:45am to close the site and that the plank had hit Mr Fowler after that decision had been made.
Mr Howley said that there was no safety batons securing the scaffolding on the lower levels of the site and under cross examination agreed that these batons should have been in place.
He said the company had been working on putting them in place following the incident were scaffolding came loose ten days previous.
Source: RTE
