Council fined over school gym death
18/06/2010
A Scottish council has been fined £56,000 after an electrician fell six metres to his death while fixing lights at a school gym.
Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard how 35-year-old Robert McGill died when he fell six metres to the ground from an elevated "airlift" platform he was using to repair overhead lights in the hall at Kilmarnock Academy in Ayrshire last year.
Mr McGill fell and hit the floor face first after the platform was moved by a joiner. The court heard how a lack of formal training, poor risk assessment and missing stabilisers on the machine all contributed to the fatal incident.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought about the prosecution, found that workers were not informed of the dangers of the machine toppling over if the stabilisers were not used.
East Ayrshire Council pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2 and 33 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £56,000.
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