floating bridge suspended

Why are IW council shy about discussing floating bridge incident?

At the end of last September, a member of staff on the Cowes floating bridge had to be airlifted to the mainland for medical treatment after an onboard incident.

Five months later and it’s great to know that the 37-year-old man from Newport has fully recovered and is back to “normal working duties”.

Investigation into what happened
The incident was serious and Isle of Wight council had said they would be looking into it further, so OnTheWight got in touch with last week for an update.

We asked:

  • What were the circumstances?
  • What occurred?
  • Has the staff member returned to full health?
  • Is back working on the Floating Bridge?

Half a reply
In a response received yesterday, a council spokesperson told OnTheWight,

“We’re pleased to report our colleague at the Cowes Floating Bridge, who had an accident at work in September, has returned to full health and normal working duties.

“In accordance with the council’s health and safety procedures, an accident investigation was undertaken and any issues identified during this process have been addressed.”

As we’ve said, it’s great to hear the staff member is back and well, but it’s notable that the Isle of Wight council avoided answering our first two questions.