An Aberdeenshire company has been fined almost a quarter of a million pounds after a farmer was crushed to death on its premises.
David Leslie, of Blairton Farm, Menie, near Balmedie, died when a fully-loaded two-tonnes grain bin fell on him from a forklift truck on March 18, 2013 – his 49th birthday.
And yesterday grain merchants East Coast Viners Grain, of Drumlithie, were fined £240,000 over the incident following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that the company, who admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, did not have a safe system of work in place for the operations taking place.
Mr Leslie, who had been at the company’s premises to pick up a load, was in front of the forklift when the grain bin fell off and struck him.
The court was told he had been assisting in a lifting operation, and was standing at the base of the grain elevator readying to pull the grain bin’s lever just before the incident.
The forklift driver had shouted a warning to Mr Leslie after – having raised the forks to around 5ft 6ins to give himself better visibility – the load began to shift.
Mr Leslie died as a result of head, neck and chest injuries. Police, ambulance, fire and rescue services and the HSE were all called to the scene at 10am on the day but nothing could be done to save the farmer.
The court also heard that the site’s rules requiring visiting lorry drivers to keep a safe distance from loading operations until advised was not communicated properly to either employees or visitors.
It was established that the company had frequently allowed visiting drivers, under the watch of supervisors, to help in loading by pulling grain bin levers to release feed.
The HSE investigation also found that – despite previous incidents of grain bins slipping from forklifts – no system had been enforced to prevent such occurrences.
They also found poor visibility in the work area where forklifts operated, failures in training employees and work systems.
However, since the incident, East Coast Viners Grain LLP have put in place stricter health and safety procedures.
The company has ceased in the use of metal grain bins, and now uses cloth bags.
They no longer allow visiting drivers to assist with lifting operations, and have made amendments to risk assessments and work procedures.
Visitors now also have to sign that they have read over the site’s rules on arrival.
A spokesman for East Coast Viners Grain LLP declined to comment yesterday.
Niall Miller, HSE principal inspector, said that the Mr Leslie’s death could have been “easily prevented”.
He said: “East Coast Viners Grain LLP’s failure to act to make sure its employees and visiting drivers were adequately protected during loading operations, has led to the tragic death of Mr Leslie.
“Around a quarter of all workplace transport incidents involve forklift trucks, with 50% of these happening because someone is hit either by the vehicle or a falling load.
“It was entirely foreseeable that there was a risk of death or serious injury if the grain bin fell from the forklift truck, particularly as the company was aware of previous incidents of loads falling.”