A north-east firm has been criticised for the way it handled work being carried out on an underground tunnel used to transport fish between the harbour and its factory.
Northbay Pelagic was handed an improvement notice by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after it was found the company had failed to put measures in place to ensure employees working within the “confined space” were not at risk.
According to the notice there was no “system in place to ensure” work required for the testing, removal and subsequent reinstatement of the fish pipe was safe.
It also stated that there were no suitable rescue arrangements in place had a worker become “incapacitated” while in the trench.
The building, at Kirk Square, Peterhead, was previously used by Fresh Catch which was found to be involved in one of Europe’s biggest black fishing scams.
As part of the police investigation a hidden tunnel was found which allowed the undeclared fish to be brought undetected into the fish processing plant.
Last night a spokeswoman for HSE said they were unable to comment on whether the safety notice involved the once secret trench.
Meanwhile Northbay Pelagic Limited did not respond to requests for comment last night. North-east SNP MSP Stewart Stevenson last night said the improvement notice was “disappointing”.
He said: “This is a disappointing lapse from the high standards that generally apply across our processing industry. Thankfully no accident occurred and I am sure this will be a timely wake up call for those who were involved.”
The fish processing plant in Peterhead burned to the ground in January 2015 but was up and running a year later. Police Scotland said they are not currently investigating the firm.
