The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Worker injured by rockfall at quarry
Aconstruction worker is in hospital after he was injured by falling rocks at a quarry in Angus.
The employee’s legs were crushed in the accident at the Breedon quarry on the outskirts of Monifieth.
The 43-year-old man is still in hospital a week after the incident.
A Health and Safety Executive( H SE) investigation is under way.
Emergency services raced to the scene, at Kingennie, near Monifieth, late last Saturday morning.
Rocks had fallen on to the employee’s digger at the Breedon Ethiebeaton Quarry.
He was trapped inside for nearly two hours.
A spokesman for Breedon confirmed the man was still receiving hospital treatment a week on, but did not give further details of his injuries.
Both the construction company and the HSE have launched investigations into the cause of the incident.
Mineral processing is on hold while the investigation takes place, but the site’s other operations remain unaffected.
It is not known how long the investigation will last, but it is likely mineral processing will not resume until it is complete.
Crushed rock, asphalt and ready-mixed concrete are made at the site.
Fire, police and ambulance services attended the scene and spent about 90 minutes freeing the man, who was taken to Nine wells Hospital.
A Breedon spokesman said: “One person was injured after an accident on Saturday (October 10) morning.
“He is in hospital and we are unable to visit him because of the coronavirus restrictions so we can’t say too much about his current condition, but he did suffer leg injuries,” added the spokesman.
“He was excavating at the time when he was somehow struck by a rockfall.
“We are investigating and so are HSE.
“The investigations are at an early stage, so there is nothing more we can say at this stage.
“Mineral processing is not happening at the moment; it is suspended while the investigation takes place.
“All other operations remain unaffected in the meantime.”
A fire service spokeswoman said: “We were called at 11.38am to assist with removing someone from a mechanical digger.
“The stop message came in at 1.02pm.”
A police spokesman said: “A rockfall trapped the 43-year-old worker in the cab of his excavator.
“He was removed and taken to hospital with leg injuries.”
An HSE spokeswoman said: “HSE is aware of the incident and are investigating.”