A BUILDER'S labourer who fell nine feet in a new house he was working on in Co Clare received fatal head injuries although he was wearing a safety helmet, an inquest was told. The helmet was smashed in the fall.
The coroner, Mr Cornelius Riordan sympathised with the family and said this was a very tragic accident in which an experienced builder's labourer met his death. He said there was no fencing around the opening for the stairs where the man fell. If there had been, this accident would not have happened.
A representative from the Health and Safety Authority attended the inquest, as did a solicitor for the family.
Tony Keane, (51) from Benedin, Lissycasey, Ennis, was working on the Holland Park housing scheme at Liscannor on May 23rd when the accident occurred.
A work mate, Mr Noel Reynolds, said they were concreting over a precast floor in one of the houses when Keane went to get a piece of timber to level the screed.
He fell through the nine foot hole for the stairs and landed on his head. His safety helmet burst open on impact.
Mr Kevin Cahir, the foreman, said there were nine houses in a row and only the concrete gang was working in the house in which the accident occurred.
He said that in his experience they had never sealed the openings for the stairs until the concreting was finished. However, they were now putting guard rails around these openings.
Mr Keane was transferred from Ennis to Cork University Hospital, where he died two days later from brain swelling, contusions and bleeding, consistent with a head injury.