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Wednesday, 21 May 2008
A fatal accident inquiry has heard how an estate
worker died on his first day covering
for the regular gamekeeper.
Douglas Armstrong, 53, was given no means of
communication or told to check in at the
end of his working day. Lone worker
safety training is essential for all
workers who are exposed to the risks of
working lone working. It took 52 hours before it was realised he was
missing and subsequently found dead on
an estate near Selkirk in 2004. A search was only launched after the regular
gamekeeper realised he had not heard Mr
Armstrong's quad bike going past his house. The inquiry continues. Mr Armstrong died after his quad bike crashed on
the Philiphaugh Estate in October 2004.
The inquiry was told he usually carried
out other duties on the estate where he
lived but had agreed to cover for
regular gamekeeper Ian Girdwood, 57,
while he recovered from an operation.
The hearing was told Mr Girdwood had
raised the alarm after failing to hear
Mr Armstrong's quad bike passing his
home. He estimated the fatal accident
had happened on the morning of Monday,
20 October, 2004 but it was not until
lunchtime on Wednesday that the body was
discovered about 200 yards from the
bike. "I got home from the hospital on
the Tuesday but I knew something was
wrong on the Wednesday morning when I
never heard the quad bike go past the
house on the regular run," said Mr
Girdwood. "I went up to the workshop
where the quad bike would be and it was
not there but all the fuel that was to
be used was still intact.
"That is when the alarm bells were ringing."
Cross-examination
He went on a search with estate worker Cameron
Gray who found Mr Armstrong's body.
Mr Girdwood then telephoned 999 on his mobile
phone to alert the emergency services.
He accepted under cross-examination that Mr
Armstrong had not been given a mobile
phone to keep in touch or asked to check
in with anyone at the end of the shift.
Mr Girdwood also admitted that Mr Armstrong had
not been wearing a helmet at the time of
the accident. The three-day inquiry, which is expected to
examine in detail the issue of employers
keeping in touch with lone workers in
rural areas, continues.
(Source BBC News)
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