Site foreman put 'lives at risk'

The foreman on a building site in Lanarkshire where a worker died after being buried alive had "little regard" for safety, according to a sheriff.

Kevin West, 36 and a father of three, suffocated when a trench caved in on him as he was laying pipes at a site in Hamilton in November 2004.

In 2007 construction firm WH Malcolm was fined £100,000 for breaching health and safety legislation.

The findings of a fatal accident inquiry have now been published.

In his ruling Sheriff Douglas Brown heavily criticised site foreman, Patrick Gaughan.

He said he had ignored a basic safety requirement and put lives at risk.

Mr West, from Mansewood, Glasgow, was rushed to Wishaw General Hospital after the walls on the 13ft trench in which he was working collapsed.

The fatal accident inquiry earlier this year heard from his colleague, Thomas Park, 52, who tried to rescue him.

He told Hamilton Sheriff Court: "When the ground gave way, another colleague ran over and told me the trench had caved in and that Kevin was in the hole.

"He was awake, but couldn't speak. Me and two other colleagues jumped in and tried desperately to free him.

"I was in complete shock, we all were. After about five minutes he lost consciousness."

The fatal accident inquiry found that the failure to install shoring to prevent the trench sides from collapsing was "the most glaring and fundamental breach of safety requirements" and was "the main reason why this accident occurred".

Basic safety

In a written judgment, Sheriff Brown, said: "When Mr Gaughan gave evidence it became clear that the picture of him presented by his senior WH Malcolm contemporaries at the time was completely at odds with the way he was operating.

"Far from being the very safety conscious individual described, he appeared to have had little if any regard for the health and safety of the men for whom he was responsible."

The sheriff added: "The requirement for shoring was repeatedly emphasised throughout WH Malcolm's health and safety documentation.

"Mr Gaughan ignored this basic safety requirement and thus put at risk the life of anyone working in the trench."

The sheriff also criticised the lack of "an effective system of supervision" which allowed Mr Gaughan to operate in the way he did.