Lack of hard hat leads to death during barn demolition

Stephen Ford, 50, has died while working on a barn demolition in Bournemouth. The cause of the accident was a blow to the head as a section of wall fell and hit Mr Ford.

The demolition job involved knocking down a cob-walled barn. Mr Ford and his son Jamie were undertaking the job using a pneumatic drill. Sections of the wall would come loose, fall to the ground, and be sorted into flint, brick, and cob piles.

At one point a large section of the wall, approximately 2ft in length, fell and hit Mr Ford on the head. His son rushed to his side and shouted for help as his dad lay their unconscious and not breathing. Workmen from a nearby site rushed over, but CPR could not bring Mr Ford back. Paramedics later arrived, but could also not do anything to save him.

Although his son Jamie believed all safety measures were in place, neither man was wearing the simplest of safety equipment: a hard hat, which may have saved Stephen's life.

Source: Bournemouth Daily Echo