A construction firm has been fined £600,000 for negligence that contributed to the death of a Dundee dad.
Father-of-three Ian Walker was working on the £22 million Third Don Crossing in Aberdeen in January 2016 when he was crushed by a 14-tonne excavator.
The giant piece of machinery was rotating after filling up beside a mobile fuel tank when it knocked the 58-year-old to the ground.
Mr Walker was caught between the between the tank and excavator on the Bridge of Don site and killed.
Representatives of construction firm Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court following a lengthy and detailed investigation into the incident.
The company admitted its workers had not been correctly following health and safety policies at the time of Mr Walker’s death.
Depute Fiscal Shona Nicholson said the investigation highlighted a string of breaches, including a lack of lighting which would have made it “difficult, if not impossible” for the excavator operator to have seen Mr Walker.
Mrs Nicholson said: “This incident was foreseeable.
“Balfour Beatty failed to ensure that the safe system of work that had been produced was fully implemented throughout the site, exposing members of the workforce to a greater risk.”
Solicitor Barry Smith, who represented the firm at the hearing, said: “The company fell short.”
After hearing statements from the prosecution and defence, Sheriff McLaughlin fined Balfour Beatty £600,000, to be paid within 28 days.
The Third Don Crossing, later renamed the Diamond Bridge, was opened in June 2016.
Four months later, construction firm bosses unveiled a poignant tribute in Mr Walker’s memory, renaming the footpath beside the bridge Walker’s Way.
