A COMPANY has been fined £50,000 following the death of a worker who was thrown from a scissor lift and fell four metres on to a concrete floor.
Steven Tervit, 32, was dismantling a cleanroom at a specialist technology centre in Renfrew when the remaining wall panels he was removing collapsed and struck the lift.
He had been working at a height of around four metres and was thrown from the platform on to the concrete floor of the warehouse at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland.
Tervit was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow where he was found to have suffered a traumatic brain injury, lung contusions, rib fractures, and fractures to his right thigh bone and left shin bone.
The 32-year-old, who was employed as a labourer by Food Process Engineering Limited, died in hospital the day after the incident, which happened on November 9, 2022
Food Process Engineering Limited had been subcontracted to remove the panels from the cleanroom as part of the wider dismantling operation.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the company failed to adequately assess and manage the risks associated with dismantling a structure it had not originally installed.
Food Process Engineering Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £50,000 with a victim surcharge of £3750 at Paisley Sheriff Court on Monday, HSE said.
HSE inspector Amna Doherty said: “The failings of this company cost a much-loved husband, father and son his life.
“Falls from height remain the leading cause of workplace death and injury.
“There was a lack of planning in terms of the risk and those being tasked with the job were not aware of the dangers posed to them.
“We will not hesitate to take action against those who fail to protect their workers.”
The cleanroom had been used to house a welding robot, and was a steel-framed structure with walls and roof constructed of polyurethane panels measuring 6.1 metres in height.
The HSE investigation found that once the roof of the structure had been removed, the wall panels did not have enough lateral support to maintain their structural stability.
HSE found Food Process Engineering Limited’s risk assessment and method statement did not adequately address the risk of unplanned collapse due to structural instability.
Although the company’s own method statement specified “A-frame” props or supports should be installed where necessary, no such props were present or in use on site at the time of the accident, HSE said.
