Hamilton company fined £50,000 over death of 'much-loved' dad thrown from lift

A company has been fined over £50,000 after a worker was thrown from a lift and killed during a room dismantling in Renfrew.

Steven Tervit, while working at a height of around four metres on a scissor lift, was removing wall panels from a cleanroom at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) at Westway Business Park on November 9, 2022.

When the remaining panels fell and struck the platform, the 32-year-old was thrown from the lift onto the concrete floor of the warehouse.

He was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where he was found to have suffered a traumatic brain injury, rib fractures, lung contusions and fractures to his right thigh bone and left shin bone.

Mr Tervit, who had worked as a labourer at Food Process Engineering Limited for around 15 years, died from his injuries the following day.

‘Failings cost a much-loved father his life’

Mr Tervit was carrying out a dismantling operation in a cleanroom within the specialist technology centre when the incident occurred.

The room, which had been used to house a welding robot, was a steel-framed structure with walls and roof constructed of polyurethane panels measuring 6.1 metres in height.

Food Process Engineering Limited had carried out visual inspections of the exterior of the cleanroom prior to commencing work and proceeded on the assumption that it had been constructed to industry standard.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that this assumption was unsafe.

Their report outlined that the company had failed to adequately assess and manage the risks associated with dismantling a structure it had not originally installed.

The company also failed to communicate its risk assessment and method statement to the employees carrying out the work, and did not inform workers of the risk of unplanned structural collapse.

The report stated that the wall panels, once the roof had been removed, lacked sufficient lateral support to maintain their structural stability.

Although the company’s own method statement specified that ‘A-frame’ props or supports should be installed where necessary, no such props were present or in use on site at the time of the accident.

At Paisley Sheriff Court on July 6, Food Process Engineering Limited, based at Hamilton, pleaded guilty to breaching four sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The company was fined £50,000 with a victim surcharge of £3,750.

HSE inspector Amna Doherty said: “The failings of this company cost a much-loved husband, father and son his life.

“Falls from height remain the leading cause of workplace death and injury.

“There was a lack of planning in terms of the risk, and those being tasked with the job were not aware of the dangers posed to them.

“We will not hesitate to take action against those who fail to protect their workers.”