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Inquiry hears how worker tried to rescue buried colleague

The first day of a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into the death of Kevin West at the Hamilton Sheriff Court has heard he was buried when a trench on a building site collapsed. He was working for WH Malcolm Ltd laying pipes in a 2m-deep excavation.

At a trial in 2007, WH Malcolm Ltd was fined £100k for breaches of H&S law. A Fatal Accident Inquiry was then launched to determine the cause of Mr West’s death. The inquiry has heard from witnesses that ”there was no support at either end of the trench” and that ”staff were not given a health-and-safety induction for the site before the accident.”  The inquiry before Sheriff Douglas Brown, continues.

Comment:  There is no coroner in Scotland. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is the prosecution service in Scotland and inquires into all sudden, suspicious, unexplained or accidental deaths.

This article was posted on 20th January 2009 in ALL LATEST NEWS, EXCAVATIONS, FATALITIES.
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