As the experienced water blaster lost his grip on an ultra high-pressure water jet, the hose’s lance flew backwards, causing the overpowering stream of liquid to cut his chest, a Wollongong coroner’s court has heard.

An inquest into the 39-year-old’s death yesterday was told Mr Kolomaka - a diligent family man - was performing extremely dangerous work and was unlikely to have known the true strength of the water pressure shooting out of a steel lance.

Mr Kolomaka, an employee of Allied Industrial Services, died while working at BlueScope Steel’s Port Kembla site on May 22, 2008 after the lance he was holding slid from his hand, forcing a deadly blast of water into his chest.

Co-worker Vodjin Poposki, who witnessed the accident, told the inquest he had vowed never to use the pressure blaster again.

‘‘It’s just what happened on that day ... I said to myself that I was never going to do that job again,’’ he said.

Mr Poposki was operating a foot valve, nicknamed the ‘‘deadman’s pedal’’, which controlled the flow of water to Mr Kolomaka’s hose at the time of the accident.

He agreed with counsel assisting the coroner Peter Skinner that Allied had been inadequate in informing staff of the dangerous nature of the work.

However, he said he knew how powerful the jet was, agreeing ‘‘if you got in front of the blast, it would split you in half’’.

Port Kembla man Steven Corea was working with both men when the accident occurred, telling the inquest he yelled ‘‘stop, stop’’ to Mr Poposki when he saw the lance shoot up ‘‘like a spear’’.

‘‘He [Mr Kolomaka] had the hose over his shoulder and had one hand up, leaning over into a pit, when the lance shot straight up and flew backwards,’’ Mr Corea said.

‘‘He went to grab it but it was already up ... it just spun back around and went straight into his chest ... then I saw blood.’’

Mr Poposki conceded he didn’t see the lance slip but noticed a spray of water and the lance heading back towards him.

The inquest heard it was common practice for Allied workers to have one person controlling the flow of water while the other held the hose.

Both men yesterday agreed it was dangerous for the blaster operator not to have direct control over the water flow, recognising Mr Kolomaka should have had his own trigger device.

Mr Corea also admitted to having had only ‘‘on-the-job’’ training for using the steel lance and that he had not been taken through the specific weight forces generated by the water pressure. He said he had seen a flow chart about particular sizes in his induction pack but would not have known how to use it prior to the accident.

The inquest was told there were no specific safety equipment requirements for the job.

Mr Kolomaka was wearing only a ‘‘sperm suit’’ and gardening gloves, which were ‘‘useless’’ to protect him from the dangerous water force, the inquest heard.

Weeks before the accident, Mr Corea had requested heavy-duty Kevlar suits after he was injured using the water blaster but was told they were ‘‘uncomfortable’’ and too hot for the work.

Mr Skinner told the inquest there were real concerns about whether workers adequately understood the danger and true force of high-powered water hoses.

‘‘[You can have] experts developing controls and charts but these things are no use at all if it doesn’t get through to workers,’’ he said.

Mr Skinner said he hoped the coroner would make findings as to the cause of Mr Kolomaka’s death and any possible recommendations about the ongoing use of the equipment.

The inquest, before deputy state coroner Ian Guy, continues today.