An industrial door firm has been fined £165,000 after it admitted safety failings that led to the death of an employee.
Thirty-three-year-old Mark Mathers was strangled by his own hoodie when it became trapped in the mechanics of a roller door at Specialist Cars Volkswagen in Aberdeen. He died three days later in hospital.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Described as an experienced mechanic, Mark had been working on the servicing, repair and replacement of a door torsion spring with a colleague on 15 September 2018 when his hooded top got caught and wound around the spring, choking him.
His colleague ran to his aid and managed to cut his top off with a knife, but Mark had already slipped into unconsciousness. He was rushed to hospital where he spent three days in intensive care before life support was removed.
His cause of death was stated as hypoxic brain injury and mechanical asphyxia after he suffered a brain stem hemorrhage.
WORKWEAR POLICY FAILINGS
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told that his employer, Patrick Forman Industrial Doors, neglected to ensure and make a sufficient assessment of the safety risks faced by its employees, such as those associated with door torsion springs.
The family-run business also pleaded guilty to failing to implement and maintain a safe system of work for staff while repairing and maintaining torsion springs.
BY FAILING TO HAVE SUITABLE MEASURES IN PLACE AND PROVIDE THE NECESSARY INFORMATION TO CARRY OUT WORK SAFELY PATRICK FORMAN INDUSTRIAL DOORS PUT THEIR EMPLOYEES IN DANGER
It also failed to provide the necessary information, instruction, training and supervision to ensure the safety of its personnel when working with the door springs in question.
She went on to describe what happened to Mark as an ‘awful accident’ and said she believed a number of workers had the potential to be ‘exposed to harm’ because of the lack of a workwear policy. She said she believed Patrick Forman Industrial Doors should have done more than ‘counsel’ its employees not to wear hoodies and should have put guidelines in place to stop it.
Imposing a total fine of £165,000 (costs are not awarded in Scotland), she said she considered there to be ‘high culpability’ on the firm’s part.
Debbie Carroll, who leads on health and safety investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said: ‘Mark Mathers lost his life in circumstances which could have been avoided had the risks been recognised and a safe system of work put in place.
‘By failing to have suitable measures in place and provide the necessary information to carry out work safely PatrickForman Industrial Doors put their employees in danger,’ she added.
‘This prosecution should remind employers that failing to take reasonable health and safety measures can have fatal consequences and they will be held accountable for this failure.’
