I had just found this article. RIP
A LABOURER fell tragically to his death as he helped put up scaffolding around a family home in St Leonards, an inquest was told.
Joseph Murphy, 31, who worked for Apex Scaffolding, was part of a small team working at a house in Washington Avenue when he fell on to concrete on August 10.
Mr Murphy, of Dorset Road South, Bexhill, who had been in the trade for nine years, was working with scaffolder Leslie Hustwayte and labourer Sean Baldwin.
The inquest this week heard their job was to get the property ready for a firm of builders due to carry out a loft conversion.
The Apex team had been working on the job for two days and had put up scaffolding at the back of the house which was on a steep downhill site.
Homeowner James Faulkner told the jury he had been concerned the men had to step up almost a metre onto a platform when they came off a path to access the scaffolding area.
He suggested they put in a ramp to bridge the gap for the bricklayers when they came but noticed this had not been done.
He told the inquest he was also worried their ladder was ‘slightly askew’ and not standing squarely on the ground although it had been tied at the top.
Mr Hustwayte, a trained scaffolder with 30 years experience, was in charge of the small team, and said: “Joe had been working with the firm a long time. He knew what he was doing.”
He told the inquest he suddenly heard a crash of metal and soon after saw Mr Murphy lying on the ground at the foot of the ladder.
Mr Baldwin, working at the front of the house, also heard noise but thought it had been caused by poles banging together, and said he ‘didn’t think anything of it’ until Mr Hustwayte came out and they dialled 999.
As he was out of sight of his workmates it is not known if he fell from a ladder or from the scaffolding.
Paramedics who arrived 15 minutes later noted Mr Murphy was lying on his back partially on the bag of butts and was not breathing.
He was lifted with the help of a fire crew and taken to the Conquest Hospital at 9.35am where he was declared dead.
The coroner read out a doctor’s forensic report describing the head and chest injuries of such severity he felt they must have been caused by a 20ft fall.
Health and safety inspector Melvyn Stancliffe said there were minor issues with the scaffolding -such as the ‘slightly unstable’ ladder, lack of a handrail, and gap at the end of the path requiring a ramp across - but these were not enough to have contributed to the fall.
A verdict of accidental death was returned by a jury this week .
Coroner Alan Craze concluded: “This is a very tragic case which will have come as a massive shock to everyone affected by it.”
Source: Hastings & St Leonards Observer