Global Energy Nigg fined £80k over death of a contractor due to electrical explosion
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A Highlands based firm has been fined £80,000 after a 64-year-old asbestos surveyor died following an electrical explosion.
Global Energy Nigg Limited pled guilty to a health and safety breach committed at Tain Sheriff Court.
The court heard that on December 10, 2020, Christopher Wayne Earley, director of CWE Asbestos Consultants Ltd, was carrying out a survey on behalf of the company at Nigg Energy Park - also known as The Port of Nigg - in the Cromarty Firth.
During the survey of a large disused fabrication workshop Mr Earley entered an electrical switch room which did not appear to be operational.
He opened an electrical cabinet and there was a flash caused by an electrical flashover - a high current electrical discharge through an air gap between conductors.
Mr Earley suffered significant burns and died in hospital on March 10, 2021.
The Health and Safety Executive investigation found that Global Energy Nigg Limited had failed to maintain the switch room in an appropriate condition.
There was no internal door and no visual warning of electrical danger at the doorway.
Live switch panels did not carry any suitable warning signs or labelling, and redundant panels were also not marked.
Debbie Carroll, who leads on health and safety investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said:“Christopher Wayne Earley lost his life in circumstances which were foreseeable and entirely avoidable.
“By failing to maintain the switch room in an appropriate condition Global Energy Nigg Limited put someone not employed by them at unacceptable risk.
“This prosecution should remind duty holders that failing to take reasonable health and safety measures can have fatal consequences and they will be held accountable for this failure.
A spokesman for Global Energy Group said: "Global Energy Group express its sincere condolences to the individual’s family and friends following this tragic accident.
"The health and safety of everyone that works in and around the facility continues to be our top priority."
