Prosecutions

BAM Nuttall fined £800,000 after death of worker on wind farm construction site

By Kerry Reals on 19 December 2024

Engineering firm BAM Nuttall has been fined £800,000 over the death of a labourer during the construction of a wind farm on the Shetland Islands.

The fine comes six months after the company received a £2.3 million fine in relation to the death of a worker who drowned in a river while removing debris from the bottom of a weir in Yorkshire.

Liam MacDonald was removing dried concrete from a skip when a bale arm fell on top of him. Photograph: Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

Liam MacDonald, aged 23, was removing dried concrete from a skip at the Viking Wind Farm construction site on Upper Kergord on 5 June 2022 when the skip’s bale arm fell on top of him. Colleagues performed CPR on him and administered a defibrillator, but he was pronounced dead at the scene by the emergency services.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which investigated the incident, found that BAM Nuttall had failed to identify the risks of the bale arm falling and had failed to put a safe system in place that would have protected anyone using, cleaning or maintaining the skip from harm.

Surrey-based BAM Nuttall pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 33 (1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £800,000 with a £60,000 victim surcharge at Inverness Sheriff Court on 18 December.

“We thoroughly investigated this incident, with our findings identifying that BAM Nuttall had failed in its duty to ensure the safety of their workforce,” said HSE inspector Jackie Randell. “This prosecution should serve as a reminder for all contractors to implement suitable risk assessments and safe systems of work.”