Scots company boss who crushed colleague to death in horror accident wasn’t trained to use machinery
A SCOTS company boss has admitted crushing a colleague to death in a horror construction site accident.
Nicholas Hall, 33, was killed after being struck by a massive digger while excavating a hole with colleagues at a vehicle yard.
Robert Harvey, 42, was operating the high-powered 22 tonne Hyundai excavator to speed the job up - even though he had no training or qualifications.
He told Mr Hall to scrape mortar out of the digger's large bucket but struck him with it - leaving tragic Hall trapped against a breeze block wall at the site in Blantyre, Lanarkshire.
Barry Miller, who was also working in the hole, heard a scream and turned round to see his workmate pinned to the wall.
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He shouted at Harvey to release the bucket, causing Mr Hall to fall to the ground.
He attempted to perform CPR before paramedics arrived, but could not save his stricken colleague.
When cops arrived Harvey, who runs Front Row Builders, admitted he had been using the machine without appropriate qualifications.
Harvey, of Glasgow, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted breaching health and safety laws in May 2016.
Depute fiscal Selena Brown said: "During the course of the morning Harvey used the excavator bucket to lower blocks down into the trench.
"At some point Nicholas Hall went into the hole to assist the men moving the blocks out of their way.
"Just before they stopped work for lunch Harvey lowered the excavator bucket, containing mortar, into the hole and tipped the bucket to empty the contents.
"As some of the mortar remained within the bucket Harvey shouted to Mr Hall to 'scrape the rest of that mortar out with the shovel' while Mr Miller worked with his back turned to them.
"He heard a scream, turned, and saw Nicholas Hall pinned against the wall by the excavator bucket.
"He shouted at Harvey to release the bucket, which he did, and Mr Hall fell to the ground.
"Mr Miller immediately went over and attempted to assist him while shouting at Harvey to telephone for an ambulance.
"Harvey climbed down into the hole whilst on the phone to the emergency operator who advised them to start CPR before the critical care team attended."
Miss Brown added: "Officers from Police Scotland arrived and during the course of the afternoon officers spoke to Harvey to attempt to ascertain if the excavator had been left secure and he confirmed he had no qualifications to operate the excavator.
"The cause of death was regarded as blunt force injuries of chest and abdomen due to an accident at work.
"By operating the excavator without the appropriate training or qualifications and by continually lowering the bucket into the trench while unable to see where the men were working, Harvey failed to take reasonable care of the safety of the men working within the hole."
Ann Ritchie, defending, said: "I'm instructed to say in court that, and it goes without saying, Mr Harvey is acutely aware of the tragic consequences of his actions that day and the distress that it has caused.
"It is accepted that the owner of the excavator had not given anyone authority to use it.
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"It is also accepted that he was using it without the appropriate training or qualifications and it was being used to effectively speed up the process."
Sheriff Thomas Millar deferred sentence until next month for reports and continued Harvey's bail.
He added: "Operating this machine without training or any risk assessment resulted in a death and this is a very serious matter and all options are open to me when this matter returns to court."
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