News / Inquiry into builders’ death inconclusive
THE CAUSE of a young Shetland builder’s tragic death in March 2007 might never be known despite a ten day fatal accident inquiry, held in between August 2008 and April 2009.
Yesterday (Monday) the family of 26 year old James Thomson said they were “very disappointed” with the outcome, saying that a vital piece of evidence had been lost from the inquiry by the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr Thomson, a qualified joiner, died instantly when a container of Evostik foam filler he was holding exploded and struck him in the chest on a building site at Upperton, Levenwick, on 10 March 2007.
In his determination, published this week, Sheriff Graeme Napier said he was “unable to conclude that there is a clear explanation of the circumstances” leading to the accident.
He added that the most likely explanation for the explosion was that the container was exposed “to temperatures well in excess of 50ºC, as there was clear evidence that all 15 containers found at the scene of the accident had been heated up to improve efficiency.
One possible source of that heat could have been a domestic fan heater found at the scene of the accident, but Sheriff Napier found no evidence that it actually was.
However during their initial investigation HSE had not tested the maximum temperature this fan heater could reach, and when the FAI requested further tests to be carried out, the original fan heater could not be found and a replica model had to be used.
The FAI found that there was no blow torch and no hot plate at the building site.
In a statement issued through the family’s lawyer, Mr Thomson’s widow Karen said the inquiry had been a long and difficult process and the family had hoped to get some explanation of the cause of death.
She added: ““We are very disappointed that the HSE inquiry was not as thorough as we had expected.
“Sheriff Napier would have liked them to do further tests but that was not possible because they lost the fan heater which was in the room at the time.
“We take comfort from the Sheriff’s comment that there is no evidence that James was responsible for any contravention of the instructions for using the foam but it is very upsetting that, after all we’ve been through, we will never know what caused the accident.”
In his conclusion, Sheriff Napier said: “Despite extensive investigation by a number of well qualified scientists I regret that at the end of this long and frustrating inquiry I am unable to conclude that there is a clear explanation of the circumstances which led to the over-pressurisation of the canister which I accept was involved in an explosion whereby the top and body separated.
“One of these parts, which on the evidence I consider it most likely to be have been the body section, was propelled into the deceased’s chest with such force that it caused a necessarily fatal injury.
“The most likely explanation for that over-pressurisation is that the canister was heated to a very high temperature. When and how that occurred has not been unascertained.
“I cannot exclude the possibility that the fan heater recovered from the locus was in some way implicated. The existence of the other popped cans in the vicinity points to some such connection.
“However, I am not satisfied that the evidence is such that it would be safe for me to come to any conclusion as to what that connection was.
“It is, however abundantly clear that no naked flame such as one might expect from a blow torch was involved.”
Sheriff Napier found no defect in the manufacturing or testing process of the canisters containing foam filler.
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