FATAL INJURIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25963, 2 October 1945, Page 6

FATAL INJURIES

DOCK WORKER’S DEATH CONCLUSION OF INQUEST The inquest was concluded yesterday before Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M., sitting as coroner, into the death of George William Cardno, a dock worker, aged 55 years, of Carey’s Bay, who died in the Public Hospital on September 9 as the result of injuries received at the Port Chalmers dock. Mr F. B. Adams appeared for the relatives, Mr A. N. Haggitt for the employers, and the police were represented by Sergeant C. J. R. Bisset. Dr W. V. Macfarlane, a house surgeon on the staff of the department of neurosurgery at the Dunedin Hospital, said the deceased was admitted to the Hospital on Wednesday, September 5, at 3 p.m„ suffering from head injuries and a lacerated elbow. He became unconscious one hour after admission, and was transferred to the neurosurgical department, where he underwent an operation. He did not recover consciousness, and died at 10.50 p.m. on September 9. In witness’s opinion death was caused by head injuries followed by a swelling of the brain, which was later complicated by pneumonia.

Jack Carrington, a rigger employed by the Union Steam Ship Company, said that on Wednesday, September 5. he was in charge of a gang of men working on the rudder of the Otago Harbour Board’s dredge Otakou, which was then in dry dock at Port Chalmers. The men were engaged in removing the rudder for adjustments when at about 2 p.m, the eye plate attached to the stern of the ship broke, and the block and chain of the lifting gear fell to the floor of the‘dock. In doing so it struck Hoskins, who was hauling on the chain, and then the deceased, who was working below on the ladder. Witness did not actually see the accident take place. No one knew that the eye plate was in any way weakening, and no warning was given before it snapped.

Evidence was also given by John Thomas Hoskins, a labourer. He said he saw the eye plate and chain block strike the deceased, apparently on the side. He then saw Cardno lying on the floor of the dock with his head against one of the big blocks attached to the floor of the dock.

Douglas McLean, an engineer employed by the Union Company, said that when the falling tackle struck the deceased he fell a distance of eight feet, landing on his right shoulder and head. In an examination after the accident witness discovered a flaw in the eye plate, which was made of cast steel, instead of the usual mild steel. Other witnesses of the accident who gave evidence were Allan McDonald and James Marshall Dalziel. After Mr Adams had raised the question of the quality of the material used in the construction of the eye plate, evidence was given by John George Rutherford, works manager of the Union Steam Ship Company, Port Chalmers. Witness said the eye piece was of very poor material, and was defectively cast. There was no undue strain on the eye plate. “It is outside my province as coroner to decide whether the proper steps had been taken to obviate the accident,” asid Mr Bundle. The- work had been carried out in the accustomed manner, he continued, and the flaw in the eye plate had not been evident until after the accident. His finding was that death was due to injuries, received when the deceased was accidentally struck by a block, the fall of which was caused by a defective eye plate, when he was working at the Port Chalmers dock on September 5.