Forth death: Pin on boom was missing
AN INQUIRY into the death of a worker on the new Queensferry Crossing heard that a pin which secured the boom that struck him had been taken out.
John Cousin, 62, from Northumberland, died on the bridge in April last year after being hit by a 550kg crane extension.
John, who was described at the hearing as “vastly experienced”, was working as a leading hand foreman for Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors and was repairing a crane which had a burst hydraulic hose.
He was with Stewart Clark, a fitter with crane company GGR.
An extension to the crane’s boom, a fly jib, was secured to the boom by two large metal pins – one at the cab end and another in the middle.
A fatal accident inquiry at Stirling Sheriff Court heard Detective Sergeant Robert Williamson, of Police Scotland’s major investigations team, read a statement by Mr Clark in which he said he had removed the pin at the cab end, leaving the jib attached by the central pin only.
He said he “heard hammering but didn’t pay any attention to it”. He then felt “a blow to the back of the head” and a “white flash”.
Earlier, DS Williamson said that Fraser McIntyre – a site engineer responsible for health and safety – had said: “I could see one of the pins hanging free and the other was lying on the ground.
“It seemed like a bit of a freak accident as both pins should not have been removed.”