Summary
On 9 November 2022, 32-year-old labourer Steven Tervit was fatally injured while dismantling a cleanroom at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland in Renfrew. Mr Tervit was working from a scissor lift at a height of approximately four metres when several 6.1-metre-high wall panels collapsed, striking the lift and ejecting him onto the concrete floor. He died in hospital the following day from multiple injuries, including a traumatic brain injury. His employer, Hamilton-based Food Process Engineering Limited, was fined £50,000 at Paisley Sheriff Court on 6 July 2026 after pleading guilty to health and safety breaches.
Analysis
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation revealed a significant failure in risk management and operational oversight. The primary cause was structural instability; once the roof was removed, the wall panels lacked the lateral support necessary to remain upright.
Several critical errors were identified:
Unsafe Assumptions: The company assumed the structure had been built to industry standards by the original installers. The HSE noted that disassembling third-party structures carries inherent risks of latent defects that must be accounted for.
Procedural Non-compliance: Although the company’s own method statement specified the use of ‘A-frame’ props for support, no such equipment was used on-site.
Communication Failures: The risk assessment and method statement were not effectively communicated to the workers, leaving them unaware of the specific dangers of structural collapse.
The incident underscores the persistent danger of working at height, which remains the leading cause of workplace fatalities in the UK. It also highlights the necessity for contractors to perform rigorous, site-specific structural assessments rather than relying on generic assumptions about a building’s integrity.