James Brownlie suffered fatal injuries on 13th May 2017 when he was struck on the body by a centering machine lifting mast.
Livingston Sheriff Court this week heard that he was carrying out maintenance and repair work on a dry sided conveyor, part of which ran under a machine known as a centering machine.
The centering machine was not isolated at the time and part of Mr Brownlie’s body interrupted the path of the light beam between the sensor’s emitter and reflector. This caused the machine’s lifting mast to activate and descend, striking him on the body and causing internal injuries from which he died a short time later.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that Cemex failed to ensure the centering machine was isolated prior to the maintenance and repair work being carried out on the conveyor.
Cemex UK Operations Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) and Section 33 (1) (a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974. It was fined £1,000,000.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Kim Ross said: “This tragic incident led to the avoidable death of a man, which could have easily been prevented if had taken action to ensure the centering machine was isolated prior to the maintenance and repair work being carried out.
“If this had been in place before the incident, James Brownlie’s death could have been prevented.”
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