A construction company has been fined £550,000 over the "foreseeable and avoidable death" of a worker who was impaled on metal piping. Matthew Mason, 20, was working at Bearsden train station in East Dunbartonshire to install a PA system when he fell to his death.
The worker was attempting to free cabling which had become stuck when he fell backwards from a step ladder and was impaled on a section of piping being used as the handle on a cable drum. He was pronounced dead at the scene after the pipe pierced his side.
Sheffield-based Linbrooke Services Limited was found guilty at Dumbarton Sheriff Court of three offences, including failing to identify the risks of pulling cabling through a conduit at height, despite previously having been alerted to the issues by a subcontractor. The company was also ordered to pay £200,000 to Mr Mason's family in compensation.
