Family speaks out after firm fined for crush death

The mother of a man crushed to death in a work accident says her family has been robbed of the chance of sharing his hopes and dreams.

Liam Macdonald, 23, from the Highlands, was cleaning dried concrete from a skip when he was crushed by a large piece of equipment at a Shetland wind farm site.

His employer, civil engineering firm BAM Nuttall, has been fined £860,000 after admitting to breaching safety regulations.

Mr Macdonald's mum, Wendy Robson, said: "Liam loved life, his family and friends. He was just at the start of his adult life, still finding who he was, and full of hopes and dreams."

Emergency services were called to the Viking Energy wind farm sites at Upper Kergord, 15 miles (24km) north of Lerwick, at about 10:15 on Sunday 5 June 2022.

BAM Nuttall pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations at Inverness Sheriff Court earlier this month.

It was fined at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

In a statement Ms Robson said: "We have been robbed of having Liam here today, and in all our tomorrows, and in sharing those dreams with him. We will never meet the children he so wanted to have one day.

"We can't adequately describe who Liam was, and what he means to us. We love and miss him beyond words."

Mr Macdonald was using a hammer to chip away pieces of hardened concrete when the piece of equipment, called a bale arm, fell.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said its investigation found BAM Nuttall, the principal contractor on the site, had failed to identify the risks of the bale arm falling.

It also said the company failed to put in place a safe system of work to ensure that anyone using, maintaining or cleaning the skip would be protected from harm.

BAM Nuttall's fine was reduced from £1.2m due to the timing of the company's plea.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said the fine would send a message that companies must do all within their power to ensure safe working practices.

He said that it was a duty not only for the managers of a major company like BAM Nuttall, but shareholders too.

The sheriff said Mr Macdonald was doing a job he had not done before, adding: "He was not accompanied to the skip, was unsupervised and was not provided with further instruction."

BAM Nuttall said it had apologised to Mr Macdonald's family, and offered its sincere condolences.

Inverness Sheriff Court heard how Mr Macdonald had been asked to clean the skip that morning, but shortly after workers spotted him "motionless' inside with the bale arm pinning his chest.

Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and an on-site defibrillator did not administer any charge.

Procurator fiscal Catherine Fraser said the bale arm should have been secured in a fixed position.

She said despite there being a "real risk" associated with the skip, there was not a suitable system in place for cleaning it out.

Defending BAM Nuttall, solicitor Murdo Macleod said it was "very much a one-off" incident and steps had been taken to ensure it could not happen again.

Outside court, a company spokesperson said: "We strive every day to ensure that all our staff work in a safe environment and we deeply regret that we failed Liam in June 2022.

"Safety is our priority and we are always reviewing our procedures and making continuous improvements.

"Immediately after Liam's death we took steps to ensure that this incident would not be repeated, and we will continue to build on this learning going forward.

"We have made improvements to our processes, our safe systems of work and the equipment we use on all of our sites and reviewed our training to ensure that staff are aware of the risks involved in their work."

Jackie Randell, of HSE, said: "This was a tragic incident which led to the death of a young man.

"Our thoughts remain with Mr MacDonald's friends and family at this time."

Debbie Carroll, of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, added: "The death of Liam MacDonald could have been prevented if BAM Nuttall Limited had suitably and sufficiently assessed the risks involved in the maintenance and cleaning of the concrete column skip at the site."