A farmer was crushed to death by his own tractor because he failed to follow health and safety guidelines, a sheriff has ruled.
Benedikt Gudmundsson, 80, was crushed between the tractor and a tree and lay dying in a field for several minutes before being discovered by his son.
The farmer had been feeding cows on his land when the tractor slipped down a muddy banking and caused fatal crush injuries.
Sheriff William Wood said that the farmer had been “most unfortunate” because the tractor slid so close to the tree that he had no way of avoiding being crushed.
But, in written findings after a fatal accident inquiry at Perth, the sheriff ruled that the fatal accident might have been avoided if Mr Gudmundsson had adopted safer working practices.
Sheriff Wood said: “The tractor should have been maintained so the parking brake could be applied. The deceased should have followed the ‘safe stop’ procedure advocated by the Health and Safety Executive.
“The handbrake was not engaged – in common with the deceased’s normal practice.” He said the handbrake had been used so infrequently it had become encrusted with mud.
Mr Gudmundsson left the tractor to cut open silage bales, but he jumped back on to try and stop it as it started sliding down an embankment.
“The tractor started to roll down the banking,” Sheriff Wood concluded. “At some point he mounted the nearside cab steps but he was unable to stop the vehicle as it gathered momentum.
“By unfortunate chance the nearside of the tractor passed so close to a small tree at the foot of the slope that he was caught between the trunk of the tree and the mudguard and/or rear wheel of the tractor, sustaining serious crush injuries that resulted in his death.
“Mr Gudmundsson had taken no adequate steps to prevent the tractor from moving. Had reasonable precautions been taken to prevent movement of the tractor in the first place, any injury was wholly preventable.”
The inquiry had heard how Mr Gudmundsson’s lifeless body was discovered on the farm by his son Benedikt jnr.
The inquiry was told that he had parked his tractor on a flat piece of ground near the steep slope, but had left it in neutral with the engine idling and the parking brake disengaged.
Pathologist Dr David Sadler told the inquiry that bruising on the victim’s body suggested he would have survived for a few minutes after the crushing.
However, he added that the victim’s age – along with the severe nature of the blunt force trauma involved – meant there was no realistic prospect of Mr Gudmundsson surviving the accident.
“I could only say that, given the severity of the injuries, in a man of this age, I think it would have been remarkable if he had survived,” Dr Sadler said.
“I would have expected him to lose consciousness very quickly and death would be within a few minutes. The injuries were such that I would expect him to die from those injuries.”
He told the inquiry that Mr Gudmundsson had replacement knees and hips and suffered from some heart disease, but none of those medical issues were a significant factor in his death.
The accident took place at 180-acre Dalmarnock Farm in Dunkeld, Perthshire, on 17 September last year. Sheriff Wood said: “This was an act of colossal misfortune.”