AN inquiry has highlighted how routine, low-level tasks could pose a risk to life, after the death of a fish farm worker last year.
Clive Hendry was crushed as he attempted to move from a moving boat to a salmon feed barge near Kyle of Lochalsh, in the north west of Scotland, in February 2020.
His employer, Mowi Scotland, was fined more than £800,000 last year after they admitted to health and safety breaches.
Hendry's partner, Catriona Lockhart, had called for a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) which is used to determine the cause of death and if any reasonable precautions could have been taken.
The fish farm worker, who was an assistant manager at the site, died after stepping through an open gate on the boat to a ladder on the barge in a practice known as a touch-and-go transfer.
He was struck by the boat and ended up in the water where he was submerged for around 20 seconds before being rescued.
A colleague of Hendry’s had tried to prevent him from falling into the loch as he grabbed his life jacket, but the 58-year-old slipped out of the jacket, and into the water.
Despite the best efforts of colleagues and emergency services Hendry could not be resuscitated.
Sheriff Gary Aitken conducted the FAI and stated that Hendry's death highlighted safety concerns around work practices at the fish farm and concerns over the correct wearing of protective clothing.
He said: “The circumstances of Mr Hendry’s death serve to re-emphasise the well-known but often forgotten point that routine, low-level, non-core activities can carry just as much risk and require just as much forethought as an unusual, out of the ordinary activity which is given special planning.”
The sheriff added: “He was clearly very well thought of and respected by his colleagues and I have no doubt that he is still sorely missed by all who knew him.”
The court heard Mowi Scotland had failed to provide risk assessments, maintain a system of work, and failed to provide supervision.
The company was fined last May at Inverness Sheriff Court after admitting to health and safety breaches.
They said the practices involved in the accident on Loch Alsh on February 18, 2020, are no longer used.
