On 17 September 2007, Duncan MacGillivray drowned after his car drove off the unprotected edge of car park, which is situated on a pier and fell in into the sea below. He was 75 years old. For this accident, Argyll and Bute Council were fined £20,000.
To exit a parking bay, Duncan MacGillivray may have moved his car forward instead of reversing, which led vehicle to climb the edging and that made car to fall nearly 3 metres into the sea as there was no protective barrier.
According to HSE investigation, although some barriers in place at the pier but there was not a single barrier in the area where Mr.MacGillivary’s car was parked.
For breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Argyll and Bute Council pleaded guilty.
HSE Inspector Mike Orr after the case said Mr. MacGillivray’s died by drowning. He further added- the council failed to conduct a minimal risk assessment by which it would have known the clear risks attached with a sheer drop without any barrier to stop at the boundary of a car park.
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