BAM Nuttall fined £800k after Viking windfarm death
Alistair Munro
A construction company was today (Wed) fined £860,000 for breaching safety regulations when a worker died on the Viking Energy windfarm site.
Inverness Sheriff Court had heard how BAM Nuttall employee Liam Macdonald died after an accident at the Kergord construction site on 5th June 2022.
The company’s case was called for sentencing at Lerwick Sheriff Court this afternoon and Sheriff Ian Cruickshank fined it a total of £800,000 – reduced from £1.2million given an early plea of guilty.
Sheriff Cruickshank also imposed a £60,000 victim surcharge.
Mr Macdonald, from Tain, had been crushed by a bale arm of a concrete skip, while cleaning it by hammer.
Despite CPR being given, a post mortem ruled the 23-year-old died from his injuries, which included haemorrhaging.
The crown prosecutor told the court how the bale arm would have struck Mr Macdonald to his chest with 160 newtons of pressure — the equivalent of 36lbs of force.
The skip was used the morning before and was supposed to be cleaned on the same day of use.
The defence asked Sheriff Ian Cruickshank to consider the incident a “one-off,” despite previous convictions.
Sheriff Cruickshank was also asked to consider the “small profit” the company had made after a “significant” turnover last year.
