Delivery company Hermes has been fined £850,000 for breaching health and safety laws after a worker was crushed to death at a panel depot.
David Kennedy, 43, was working at the firm’s parcel sorting office at Eurocentral near Motherwell, in March 2019, when the horror incident took place.
He was undergoing training with a colleague on how to operate a trailer mover.
Mr Kennedy was left pinned against a stationary trailer after the tiler head of the trailer mover slipped off within the depot yard and struck him in the chest.
He sustained crush injuries at the scene.
Emergency services arrived and rushed him to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow where he later died from his injuries two days later.
An investigation led to criminal proceedings being brought against the firm after it emerged safety procedures had not been followed.
The HSE investigation found that the company failed to ensure that their in-house trainer at Eurocentral was given enough instruction on how training should be delivered.
No one on-site monitored whether the appropriate training was taking place.
The company’s training plan set out that towing a trailer should not take place until the second hour of the training.
Mr Kennedy started his practical training around 30 minutes before the incident occurred.
ln that time he was already involved in moving a laden trailer with the mover.
The company also failed to ensure the the trainer used two trained workers at all relevant times in the course of training.
The trainer was at times in a position where it is unlikely that he would have been able to see and correct any mistakes.
Hermes Parcelnet Ltd, based in Leeds, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted breaching health and safety laws at the depot between August 2018 and March 2019.
Soon after the incident the company removed all trailer movers from service across its UK sites.
Alistair Duncan, Head of the Health and Safety Investigation Unit of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said:
“David Kennedy lost his life in circumstances which were foreseeable and entirely avoidable.
“By failing to identify the risks arising from providing training to employees in the operation of a trailer mover Hermes Parcelnet Limited put their employees at unacceptable risk.
“This prosecution should remind other employers that failing to keep their employees safe can have fatal consequences and they will be held accountable for this failure.
"Our thoughts are with Mr Kennedy’s family at this difficult time."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
