Prosecutions

The driver was hit by two gates, weighing 153kgs or about 24 stone, at a garden centre in Inverness.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the 58-year-old had been able to gain access to an area close to the side of his lorry while the gates were being unloaded.

Inverness Sheriff Court was told that the driver had picked up 20 steel safety gates from a gate and fence manufacturer near Invergordon, on 27 August 2008. He then drove them to the garden centre where they were to be unloaded by workers from the garden centre using a forklift truck.

The driver removed the securing straps from his load, and assisted the forklift truck driver during the unloading by ensuring the forks were positioned correctly before moving from his position behind his lorry. Four of the gates fell off the lorry as they were being unloaded, with two of them hitting him.

Paramedics were called but could not revive the driver, and he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. He had suffered a serious neck injury.

Today at Inverness Sheriff Court, the driver’s employers pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £13,300.

The gate manufacturer pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the same Act. The company was fined £40,000.

Both companies admitted failing to adequately liaise with each other or obtain enough information to ensure a safe system of work was in place, particularly in relation to the role the driver would play in unloading the gates.

The manufacturer also admitted it had failed to make cones and tape available to create a safe place of work around the lorry during the unloading operation.

Following the case, an inspector from the HSE said:

"This was a horrific and entirely avoidable incident. If proper safety measures had been taken the driver could still be alive today.

"Those involved in arranging and carrying out deliveries should exchange and agree information to ensure lorries can be loaded and unloaded in a safe manner.

"They must make sure a safe way of working is in place and that workers have clear responsibilities so everyone involved in the lifting operation knows what everyone else is meant to be doing and where they are meant to be.

"They must also make sure that, when loading and unloading is taking place, adequate measures are taken to keep workers away from this work."