Bristol scaffolder 'had epileptic attack before fatal fall'

A Bristol scaffolder died when he fell 15ft from a structure the day after he had suffered an epileptic attack, an inquest heard.

Married father-of-three Shaun Stevens, 41, died from a head injury after plummeting from scaffolding he was dismantling at his company's yard in Station Road, Kingswood, in October 2006.

Mr Stevens, who lived with his family in Hanham Road, Kingswood, died at Frenchay Hospital after the fall at the Flooks Scaffolding yard where he and a colleague had been tasked with dismantling a 60ft-long structure.

A jury at the inquest in Flax Bourton heard Mr Stevens had been staying with friend Roger Sweet in Kingswood at the time of the fall because he and his wife Tanya were going through a temporary separation.

Mr Sweet told assistant deputy coroner Maria Voisin that Mr Stevens had fallen unconscious during a short epileptic episode in his front room the night before he fell from the scaffolding on October 16.

He said: "He went quiet and was slumped in the chair so I phoned for an ambulance. But he came around and said it was just a little attack and he didn't need an ambulance.

"It appeared like he was asleep and his eyes were closed."

John Gleed, who was second in command for Flooks Scaffolding in 2006, agreed Mr Stevens would work at the company's yard on the day of the accident. He said the company had supplied Mr Stevens, an experienced scaffolder, with safety equipment including a harness, helmet and gloves. But Mr Gleed said he did not see him wearing his harness that day. Mr Gleed added that he had dismantled similar scaffolding structures "thousands of times" and would not have worn a harness had he been carrying out the job himself.

He said the job was at a relatively low height for scaffolding work and the harness supplied was only effective for falls of 6m high or more.

He said harnesses could sometimes become a trip hazard for scaffolders and that working conditions were more relaxed at the company yard than when working elsewhere.

Andrew Whitelock, from St George, told the inquest he was working with Mr Stevens on the day of the fall.

He was on the ground collecting scaffolding poles and sheets being handed down by Mr Stevens as part of what he described as a "basic" scaffolding job.

Mr Whitelock said he wasn't sure if Mr Stevens, whom he said had worked on some of the biggest scaffolding jobs in Bristol, was wearing a harness and said he personally wouldn't have worn one if he had been doing the same job.

He said: "He was stripping sheets down and I took them off him and walked away to put them on the ground. Then I heard a noise I will never forget, which was from one of the sheets cracking. I don't know how the sheeting cracked. I looked around and Shaun was on the floor.

"I put him in a recovery position and called an ambulance. The paramedics were on the scene within five minutes."

Mr Whitelock said Mr Stevens had probably fallen into the scaffolding sheet, which he said could normally hold a man's weight, rather than stepping onto it. He told the jury that health and safety measures had improved in the three years since the accident and said scaffolders would now wear harnesses on "most jobs".

Mrs Stevens, who brought up three daughters with her husband of 18 years, told the jury she had been separated from Mr Stevens for 11 days prior to the accident.

Mrs Stevens said: "It was a very fiery relationship and he gave as good as he got. I would have liked to have thought we could get back together.

"I loved him very much and so did his daughters."

She added her husband had experienced his first epileptic episode in the late 1980s and at one point considered an alternative career because of his condition.

The inquest, which is expected to last three days, continues.