The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Worker crushed on A9 dualling project
Crewman recovering in hospital after accident north of Perth
Authorities have launched a wide-ranging investigation after a construction crewman was crushed under a falling portable building during work on the A9 dualling scheme.
The 45-year-old suffered serious injuries in the accident at Balfour Beatty’s site near Bankfoot.
Transport Scotland, which is leading the £3 billion A9 project, said an independent inquiry was under way.
It happened in the first phase of work on the Luncarty to Pass of Birnam section of the road.
Details emerged as Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering bosses appeared in court to admit health and safety failings which led to the death of a Dundee father at a site in Aberdeen.
A construction firm has been fined £600,000 for negligence that contributed to the death of a Dundee dad.
Father-of-three Ian Walker was working on the £22 million Third Don Crossing in Aberdeen in January 2016 when he was crushed by a 14-tonne excavator.
The giant piece of machinery was rotating after filling up beside a mobile fuel tank when it knocked the 58-yearold to the ground.
Mr Walker was caught between the between the tank and excavator on the Bridge of Don site and killed.
Yesterday representatives of construction firm Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court following a lengthy and detailed investigation into the incident.
The company admitted its workers had not been correctly following health and safety policies at the time of Mr Walker’s death.
Depute fiscal Shona Nicholson said the investigation highlighted a string of breaches, including a lack of lighting, which would have made it “difficult, if not impossible” for the excavator operator to have seen Mr Walker.
She added that the gap between the fuel tank and the machine was “sufficiently small” to cause serious or fatal crushing injuries when rotating, and that the operator did not have a clear line of sight to some areas around the tank – including where Mr Walker had been standing.
In contradiction of company policy, there were no barriers or signs surrounding the tank – a breach missed by senior staff members during two site walk-throughs that day.
Mrs Nicholson said: “This incident was foreseeable.
“Balfour Beatty failed to ensure that the safe system of work that had been produced was fully implemented throughout the site, exposing members of the workforce to a greater risk.”
Mr Walker was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics and the contractor suspended work at the site.
Solicitor Barry Smith, who represented the firm at the hearing, said: “The company fell short.”
But he also asked Sheriff Morag McLaughlin to consider what happened an “isolated incident,” and pointed to the slew of additional safety measures implemented after Mr Walker’s death as a sign of how seriously it was taking the matter.
Mr Smith added: “On behalf of the company I want to offer the sincere condolences of everyone involved in the business – from the top to the bottom – to the family of Mr Walker.”
After hearing statements from the prosecution and defence, Sheriff McLaughlin fined Balfour Beatty £600,000, to be paid within 28 days.