by Kyle Molyneux | Thu 17 Oct 2019
Company owner jailed
A builder has been sentenced to 10 months in prison following a fatal incident. Robert Harvey, who owns Front Row Builders Ltd, was operating an excavator and crushed employee Nicholas Hall with the bucket.
Hamilton Sheriff Court heard the company was building a vehicle wash bay for Peter Lawless Road Planing at a site in Blantyre, Scotland. On May 7th 2016, Harvey used the digger to lower materials into an excavation pit where three men were working, including Hall. Most of the bucket’s contents were tipped out, but Hall was instructed by Harvey to remove the rest, including mortar, with a shovel. It was at this point he was pinned against a wall and died of blunt force injuries to his upper body.
Investigating the fatal incident, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) discovered Harvey had been operating the excavator without the necessary training or certification and hadn’t carried out a risk assessment. Harvey pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was given a 10-month sentence by the court.
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Image: Hamilton Sheriff Court