Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that between 4 January 2016 and 13 January 2016 Balfour, as principal contractor, failed to ensure that the safe system of work for refuelling of all plant and equipment was fully implemented at the site.

As a consequence of that failure, on 13 January 2016, the victim was struck by a wheeled excavator which was slewing after being refuelled.

An HSE investigation found that refuelling of plant and equipment was identified as a high risk activity by the principal contractor who had created a task briefing document detailing a safe system of work and had risk assessed the activity.

But it was evident that although these procedures existed in documentary format the safe system of work and its control measures had not been fully implemented at the site.

Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Limited of Canary Wharf, London pleaded guilty to breaching CDM regulations and was fined £600,000.

Speaking after the hearing HSE principal inspector, Niall Miller said: “This was a tragic and wholly avoidable incident, caused by the failure of the civil engineering company to implement safe systems of work, and to ensure that health and safety documentation was communicated and control measures followed.”