Auction firm fined after farm manager’s death

Scottish auction firm Lawrie and Symington has been fined £30,000 after one of its employees died in a quad bike accident.

Allan Frame, 41, was a farm manager for the company when he died at Bonnington Farm in Lanark on September 17 2012.

Although there were no witnesses, health and safety officials for the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal’s Service believed Mr Frame was riding the bike when it overturned, crushing him underneath.

A neighbour found Mr Frame trapped by the bike, which was still running at full throttle. The neighbour fought to release Mr Frame but the bike was too heavy to lift.

The farm manager was declared dead by air ambulance paramedics a short time after they arrived at the scene.

At Lanark Sheriff Court on 13 January, Lawrie and Symington pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety legislation, namely failing to ensure that Mr Frame was “adequately trained”.

Sheriff Nicola Stewart fined the firm £45,000 but reduced this to £30,000 in light of an early guilty plea.

Speaking after the hearing Gary Aitken, head of health and safety division in the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal department said Mr Frame had received no formal training in the use of the ATV from the firm.

“The risk to Mr Frame was readily foreseeable in the context of the lack of training being given to him on the correct use of the ATV,” said Mr Aitken.

“Lawrie and Symington Limited fell far short of the applicable standard required by the regulations and steps taken after the incident show that effective action could have been taken that may have prevented the accident,” he added.

Solicitor advocate Vikki Watt, representing Lawrie and Symington, said the firm had a 200-year history and operated more as a co-operative than a business. She also referred to the company’s previously unblemished record.