SW Global Resourcing Pleads Guilty To Safety Failings

Glasgow-based company SW Global Resourcing has been fined £200,000 after admitting a health and safety breach in relation to an incident in 2010 which led to the death of one of its workers.

Leslie Watson died at the scene in April 2010 while employed by the company to cap and grout strengthening rods inserted into the arches of Annick Water Viaduct in Stewarton, Ayrshire.

Mr Watson was working from the basket of a mobile elevated work platform raised about 13 metres high, with the platform based on a concrete plinth with no stop or edge protection to prevent a potential fall.

The platform drove off the edge of the plinth and overturned, throwing Mr Watson from the basket against a column and into the shallow river bed.

An investigation by the Office of Rail Regulation and the Health and Safety Executive revealed that no suitable risk assessment had been undertaken prior to the work and that the system of work in place was unsafe.

Gary Aitken, head of the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service’s Health and Safety Division, described the incident as an “entirely avoidable tragedy”.

Expert Opinion

This tragic incident highlights just why health and safety should always be the priority at work. Like many of the cases in which we represent those who have suffered workplace injuries, this is an incident that could have been avoided had the necessary steps been taken to protect staff. <br/> <br/>"Carrying out risk assessments and providing the relevant equipment to keep workers safe is absolutely paramount for all employers, with a case like this highlighting the terrible consequences of not taking such steps. <br/> <br/>"Lessons need to be learned from an incident like this to ensure no one else is hurt in a similar avoidable manner."