Worker Dies After Falling from Warehouse Platform in Renfrew
Steven Tervit was removing panels from a cleanroom inside a warehouse in Renfrew.
An engineering firm has been fined £50,000 following the death of a worker who fell 13ft (4m) from a platform onto a warehouse floor in Renfrew.
Steven Tervit, aged 32, was working on a scissor lift—a mobile lift platform—when he was thrown onto the concrete floor in November 2022.
He had been dismantling a cleanroom, an enclosed space within the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, when the wall panels collapsed and struck the platform.
Tervit's employer, Food Process Engineering Ltd, had been sub-contracted for the task. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reported that the company failed to adequately manage or risk assess the work.
The Hamilton-based firm pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £50,000, along with a victim surcharge of £3,750, at Paisley Sheriff Court on Monday.
Background on the Incident
Tervit had been employed by Food Process Engineering as a labourer for 15 years.
He was conducting the dismantling operation at the warehouse located in the Westway Business Park on Porterfield Road.
The cleanroom, previously used to house a welding robot, was a steel-framed structure with walls and roof constructed of polyurethane panels measuring 20ft (6.1m) in height.
Following the incident, Tervit was transported to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where he was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, rib fractures, lung contusions, and fractures to his right thigh bone and left shin bone.
Investigation and Findings
An HSE investigation revealed that the company failed to properly assess and manage the risks associated with dismantling a structure it had not originally installed.
Although the company's own method statement specified that 'A-frame' props or supports should be installed where necessary, no such props were present or in use at the site during the work.
The company had conducted visual inspections of the cleanroom's exterior before commencing work and assumed it had been constructed to industry standards.
HSE concluded that this assumption was unsafe, as dismantling a structure built by a third party carries the risk of potential defects.
"The failings of this company cost a much-loved husband, father and son his life.
There was a lack of planning in terms of the risk and those being tasked with the job were not aware of the dangers posed to them.
We will not hesitate to take action against those who fail to protect their workers."
— HSE inspector Amna Doherty
