I heard steel on steel scraping & I spun around. I saw he had his hands above his head, then the fly jib fell on him
Colleague tells of 62-year-old bridge worker John Cousin’s last moments
A WORKERWOR has told how he saw a colleague being hit by a fallifalling crane part seconds after hearing the scraping of “ssteel on steel”. Lukas Lu Holis was giving evidence evid at an inquiry into the death of John Cousin after an accident in April 2016 on the Queensferry Crossing. John, 62, was standing in front of a giraffe track crane cr that was being repaired repaire when the extending fly jib fellf on him. The crane had broken down the day before after a hose burst, causingi it to leak hydraulic oil on to the incomplete road deck of the bridge’s north tower. Fitter Stewart Clark, who worked for crane rental company GGR Group, had been sent to fix the crane on the day John died. Holis, 24, told the inquiry at Stirling Sheriff Court: “John Cousin came over while the fitter was fixing the machine. “He arrived when we started lowering the boom. “When I lowered the boom, it started leaking oil. I went to get granules from the store to pour on to the oil. The store is quite a good distance away, about a five-minute walk.
“John and Stewart Clark were speaking to each other but I couldn’t hear what they were speaking about.”
After returning with the granules, Holis began pouring them on the oil. It had leaked out around the crane, which was placed in an exclusion zone.
He continued: “When I was coming back, I could see both of them working on the boom. They were just guys talking to each other and laughing.
“I heard this noise, steel on steel scraping and I spun around.
“John Cousin had his hands up above his head and then the fly jib fell on him. I ran to him and started giving first aid. I’m not sure if the jib was lying on him or next to him at this point.
“He had been very clearly injured. There was blood. When that happened, I just started shouting for help and put him in a safe position.”
John, who was bleeding heavily from wounds to his upper body, was stretchered to a waiting boat and taken ashore. He died a short time later. Asked where Clark was when the jib fell, Holis replied: “I think he was still on the crane.
“I asked if he was all right and he answered and then I saw John Cousin lying on the deck and I ran to him straight away.”
Holis said he wasn’t sure if Clark was also injured during the incident. He added that it wasn’t unusual for John to have been inside the crane’s exclusion zone.
Procurator fiscal Gavin Callaghan told the FAI Holis had given several statements after the accident, including telling police he thought he had heard John saying to remove a pin from the crane.
Holis couldn’t remember John’s remark yesterday.
The hearing continues.