Hamilton-based Food Process Engineering Ltd has been found at fault for the death of 32-year-old employee Steven Tervit.
Tervit had been carrying out a dismantling operation at a specialist technology centre in Renfrew on 9 November 2022 when the incident occurred.
He was working at a height of around four metres on a scissor lift, removing wall panels from a cleanroom at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) at Westway Business Park, Porterfield Road, when a series of wall panels collapsed and ejected him from the scissor lift.
Tervit was thrown from the lift onto the concrete floor of the warehouse. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, rib fractures, lung contusions, and fractures to his right thigh bone and left shin bone.
He died at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow the following day.
The cleanroom, which had been used to house a welding robot, was a steel-framed structure with walls and a roof constructed of polyurethane panels measuring 6.1 metres in height.
Food Process Engineering Ltd had been subcontracted to remove the panels as part of the wider dismantling operation.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the firm had failed to adequately assess and manage the risks associated with dismantling a structure it had not originally installed.
Food Process Engineering said it had carried out visual inspections of the exterior of the cleanroom before commencing work and proceeded on the assumption that it had been constructed to industry standards.
HSE ruled that this assumption was unsafe, as the disassembly of a structure built by a third party carried an inherent risk of latent defects that could elevate the risk of structural failure.
The wall panels, once the roof had been removed, were found to have insufficient lateral support to maintain their structural stability.
HSE added that the company’s risk assessment and method statement did not adequately address the risk of unplanned collapse due to structural instability.
Although Food Process Engineering’s own method statement specified that ‘A-frame’ props or supports should be installed where necessary, no such props were present or in use on site at the time of the accident.
HSE said the company had also failed to communicate its risk assessment and method statement to the employees carrying out the work, meaning workers on site were not adequately informed of the risks involved.
Food Process Engineering pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1), 2(2)(a), 2(2)(c), 33(1)(a) and 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £50,000, with a victim surcharge of £3,750, at Paisley Sheriff Court on 6 July 2026.
HSE inspector Amna Doherty said: “The failings of this company cost a much-loved husband, father and son his life. Falls from height remain the leading cause of workplace death and injury.
“There was a lack of planning in terms of the risk and those being tasked with the job were not aware of the dangers posed to them. We will not hesitate to take action against those who fail to protect their workers.”
