Scott Johnson died on June 16, 2012, at Downsview Park in Toronto. The stage roof collapsed just before the final sound check for the Radiohead concert to be held that night.
As it says on his tombstone “Scott was a beautiful boy and a kind and gentle man”. He had been touring as a drum technician with bits of guitar work and stage management and had considered himself at the top of the tree working with Phillip Selway and Clive Deamer with Radiohead but had worked with Keane for seven years and Australian Pink Floyd, Killers, Robyn and many others. His work in the studio is acknowledged on Keane and Killers albums. He was an accomplished player himself, recording and playing in London as a 15-year-old.
He need not have died.
Ken Johnson is Scott Johnson’s father and a passionate safety advocate. Before retirement, Ken served as Technical and Health and Safety Advisor to the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC), a role he held for eight years. He represented NASC at the British Standards Institute (BSI), Temporary Works Forum, Build UK, the Health and Safety Executive, CEN (the European Committee for Standardization) and UEG (a European group of scaffolding organisations), and numerous other bodies. At the height of his career, Ken provided 90% of UK drop forged scaffold fittings.
Ken still works in Canada in the events industry as a member of the Event Safety Alliance Canada (ESAC) and with the Canadian Health and Safety.
His involvement in the events industry came about through Scott’s death and relationship with ESAC and a new UK training company ESITS.