THE DEATH of a commercial diver at a Fife harbour was not the result of an accident or any kind of medical or professional malpractice, a Fatal Accident Inquiry has ruled.
Steven Allen, of Seamill, West Kilbride, was found to have most probably died at Shell Jetty, Aberdour, on November 22 2009, as a result of “some kind of cardiac event or arrhythmia” resulting from existing heart and liver problems.
The inquiry at Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard evidence from 13 witnesses over five days.
Sheriff John McSherry concluded that the death was not the result of any diving-related procedures and that Mr Allen could have died at any time.
The inquiry also dismissed criticisms from a Health and Safety inspector that no rescue practice had been rehearsed on the day of the incident and that recovery lifting gear was packed away prematurely.
Mr Allen was a self-employed commercial diver contracted to work for RBG Ltd in the vicinity of the Shell Jetty at Aberdour.
He held a valid certificate of fitness to dive and was a qualified and competent diver.
Part of a six-strong dive team, the diving operation had started on November 20 and involved an inspection to ascertain the condition of the piles supporting the jetty and, in addition, the installation of a new current-monitoring buoy on the seabed next to the jetty.
During the morning of November 22 Mr Allen was inside dive control on board the diving vessel.
At 5.02pm Mr Allen entered the water to carry out the final dive of the day.
His dive was an “as left” survey of the cable installation for the buoy. At no time did Mr Allen indicate to any of the team or any other person that he was unfit to dive.
At 5.07pm Mr Allen reached the seabed at a dive depth of 15 metres. He then carried out a video survey by slowly ascending the pile and demonstrated that the current-monitoring buoy cable was securely attached to the jetty pile.
At 5.21pm he surfaced and swam to the bow of the diving vessel to access the deck via a vertical ladder.
At 5.22pm he reported that he was having difficulty removing one of his fins. Given assistance, as he lifted his left leg for fin removal, he continued to roll backwards and started to invert in the water.
He appeared to have lost consciousness and emergency recovery was initiated.
Mr Allen was not breathing and there was no carotid pulse and members of the diving team gave CPR.
Paramedics then took over but, despite their efforts, Mr Allen was pronounced dead at 6.05pm.
Sheriff McSherry noted medicine was an “inexact science” but concluded that Mr Allen could have died at any time. There was no evidence of anything related to the diving operation which might have caused death.
Sheriff McSherry concluded: “There is no evidence that the failure to have a diver rescue practice on the day in question was relevant to Mr Allen’s death. There were no other facts relevant to the circumstances of Mr Allen’s death. My sincere condolences go out to Mr Allen’s family.”
malexander@thecourier.co.uk