Two companies have been fined a total of £154,000 after a crew member of a vessel was run over by a forklift on the quayside at Invergordon.
Ramon Capistrano was dragged beneath the vehicle and suffered fatal injuries in the 2016 accident, Tain Sheriff Court was told.
The 55-year-old was boatswain of the Deep Energy pipe laying vessel and had been tasked with periodically checking the mooring ropes of the ship while it was docked at Quay Five.
Port of Cromarty Firth Services Limited – now known as Dorchester Gardens 950 Ltd – pled guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of workers on the quayside by operating the forklift when there were no control measures in place to segregate vehicle and pedestrians.
It is the second services company to face criminal charges in connection with Mr Capistrano’s death, which happened at around 8am on April 22 2016.
Sheriff Gary Aitken lifted reporting restrictions on a previous prosecution involving Deep Energy’s operator, subsea services firm Technip UK Limited.
Technip UK pled guilty to the same charge and was fined £140,000 on October 25 last year.
© Supplied by Lewis ForbesFiscal depute Gavin Callaghan told Tain Sheriff Court: “The forklift truck operator was in the process of returning to collect his third load (and was thus unloaded) when the forklift truck struck Mr Capistrano with the offside (driver’s side) of the forklift truck.
“Witnesses had seen Mr Capistrano immediately before the collision walking on the quayside approximately six metres from the bottom of the gangway towards the front of the vessel.
“Having been struck by the offside of the forklift truck Mr Capistrano fell and was dragged beneath the front offside wheel.
“The forklift truck operator had been unaware of the collision and was shouted at by witnesses to reverse the forklift truck. In doing so he reversed back over Mr Capistrano causing extensive injuries.
“The operator got out of of the forklift truck and is described by witnesses as having been hysterical and throwing himself to the ground.”
Forklift driver’s vision obscured
The operator returned a negative breath test with a zero result and told police: “I never seen him, he must have been behind the right mast. I was going at walking pace. The sun was bright.”
Subsequent expert inspections found that the forklift driver’s vision would have been obscured by the forklift mast and hydraulic cables and that mirrors provided were unlikely to have afforded him a view of Mr Capistrano, who was from the Philippines.
It was also found that the lack any briefing regarding pedestrian traffic made it unlikely that the driver would have been actively checking for pedestrians in his work area.
A post-mortem found that Mr Capistrano died from multiple injuries caused by being run over by a forklift truck.
Advocate Emma Toner, for Dorchester Gardens 950 Ltd, extended the company’s sincere condolences to the family of Mr Capistrano, who was married with two children.
She reminded the court that overall responsibility for the operations on the day at Invergordon lay with Technip UK Limited.
‘A matter of deep regret’
Ms Toner said that the fact that safety measures taken by Port of Cromarty Firth Services Ltd were not adequate was “a matter of deep regret” to the company.
Sheriff Aitken said: “It is quite clear that Mr Capistrano’s death arose from an incident that simply should not have happened but it has and I cannot turn the clock back and make that any different.
“What I can and am required to do is impose a penalty on the organisation involved.”
Handing down a fine of £14,000 to the now-dormant company, Sheriff Aitken stressed that the penalty imposed was “in no way a reflection of the value of Mr Capistrano’s life” adding: “It would be impossible and inappropriate for any court to seek to do that.”
