Groundworks company fined after worker dies in excavation collapse

A specialist groundworks and drainage works company has been fined £75,000 after a man died while working inside an excavation at a construction site in Glasgow.

Carrig Construction Services Ltd had been appointed as a contractor at the site on Belhaven Terrace West Lane, where new houses were being built.

Derek Caddie, 44, was working under the company’s control when the incident happened on 25 November 2019.

He had entered the excavation with a colleague to repair damaged and leaking pipework when part of the excavation wall collapsed.

Caddie was trapped in soil from the neck down before being rescued by the emergency services. He died from his injuries in hospital three days later on 28 November. His colleague was uninjured.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the collapse was caused by a lack of support to the vertical walls of the excavation. Carrig Construction failed to identify the risks of working in the excavation and did not ensure there were practicable steps in place to ensure workers were protected while inside it.

In addition, none of the workers under the company’s control had any formal training on working within excavations and were unaware of the risks involved.

Carrig Construction Services Ltd, of Hunters Way, Lochwinnoch, Argyll, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £75,000 at Glasgow Sheriff Court on 28 August 2024.

Graeme McMinn, a principal inspector at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said: “This was a tragic and wholly avoidable accident, caused by the failure of Carrig Construction Services Limited to put in place measures to control the risk of the sides of the excavation collapsing.”