A dad-of-two who died in a tragic accident at a hotel pier near Killin was caused by him using equipment and a method of working on the pier which were “inherently unsafe”, according to the findings of a Fatal Accident Inquiry.
Greg Deakin, from Glasgow, died on October 6, 2021, when the JCB excavator he was operating on the pier toppled in to the water, causing him to drown.
The horror accident occurred at the pier area of Loch Tay within the grounds of Ardeonaig Hotel where Mr Deakin, 48, was a director and employee of Ardeonaig Limited, and his death was the result of an accident which occurred in the course of his work there.
Ardeonaig Limited owned the Ardeonaig Hotel together with holiday cottages in the grounds of the hotel, and the adjoining pier where the accident occurred. The hotel, excluding the holiday cottages and pier, was let to a hotel operator at the time of the incident, and was in the process of being renovated by Ardeonaig Limited.
Mr Deakin had been renovating the hotel for a year prior to the accident. As part of improvement works there, a marina had been created and works were ongoing to improve, strengthen and extend the pier.
The inquiry, where evidence was led and submissions presented, was held at Stirling Sheriff Court last month.
In the determination of the findings following the hearing, Sheriff Derek Hamilton concluded that Mr Deakin died after the excavator he had been operating was too wide for the pier and it toppled in to the loch – trapping him in the cab.
Rocks had been taken by a dumper truck from construction work at the hotel, and had been deposited in a pile at the side of the single track leading down to the pier. The rocks were to be loaded by a tracked excavator into the front bucket of the dumper truck and on to the northbound section of the pier and placed some distance up that section of the pier.
From there they were to be picked up by a tracked excavator, taken further along the northbound section of the pier and round on to the eastbound section of the pier, where they were to be placed in the water to extend the pier eastwards.
Larger boulders were to be placed on the outside of the proposed extension, with the smaller boulders being used to infill the middle. Once the boulders were in place, they were to be concreted over to form the extension to the pier.
As work progressed at around 2.30pm that afternoon, a colleague, William McShane, left Mr Deakin in the cab of the excavator and started to walk back along the pier towards the dumper truck. At that point, he heard a “crunching noise” which he believed was caused by the tracks of the excavator on the concrete pier as it tracked backwards and cut the corner of the pier on the excavator’s offside.
When he turned around he saw the excavator tipping into the water, and Mr Deakin in the cab holding on to the glass.
Mr McShane ran back towards his stricken colleague, expecting Mr Deakin to come out of the cab. When he failed to re-surface, Mr McShane called over a nearby fisherman, Ashley Allibone, for assistance, and then called the emergency services.
Investigators believe that, as the excavator entered the water it rolled over, as it came to rest with the nearside of the cab, where the door was positioned lying against the bottom of the loch.
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Mr McShane desperately plunged in to the water to try and free Mr Deakin by unsuccessfully attempting to break the window with a boulder.
The cab was fully submerged and Mr Deakin was unable to escape and he was eventually removed by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Attempts were made to resuscitate Mr Deakin but he was pronounced dead at around 3.40pm.
A post mortem examination was carried out on October 15, 2021, where the cause of death was given as drowning and an accident whilst operating a mini-excavator.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched an investigation and attended the location on October 7 and 8.
It was later determined that an alternative exit, through the rear window of the cab, was provided for use in an emergency. To use the emergency exit necessitated either pulling a ring attached to the window rubber that released the window glass allowing it to be pushed out, or breaking the glass.
The investigation found that, at the section of the pier where the excavator was positioned, the tracks were wider than the pier – the pier being 2015mm wide and the tracks at least 2200mm wide.
Concluding his findings, Sheriff Hamilton said in the report: “Quite simply this tragic accident was caused by Mr Deakin using equipment and a method of working on the pier which were inherently unsafe.
“The excavator was on this occasion too large to operate on the pier. Its tracks were wider than the width of the pier, thereby allowing little room for error when manoeuvring the excavator.
“There was no room for Mr Deakin to rotate the excavator on its own tracks. Mr Deakin elected to reverse the excavator. He could have rotated the top structure 180 degrees. The cab would then have been facing forwards, but the levers/pedals used to drive the excavator would have operated in reverse fashion.
“Even doing this however would still have placed Mr Deakin in some danger due to the size, and particularly the width, of the excavator’s tracks. Mr Deakin had to negotiate a 90 degree bend in an excavator which quite simply was too large to operate safely on the pier.
“It was during that turning manoeuvre, that the tracks slipped off the edge of the pier and the excavator toppled into the water.
“Tragically, the excavator did not come to rest on the side which first entered the water. The excavator appears to have toppled over with its nearside coming to rest facing downwards to the bottom of the loch. This preventing Mr Deakin escaping from the cab, or rescuers entering into the cab, through the excavator door. Because the windows of the excavator were underwater, those trying to assist Mr Deakin were initially unable to smash the glass. The cab was fitted with a rear window which could be opened as an emergency escape by either pulling a rubber ring attached to the seal, or by smashing the glass. There may have been many reason why Mr Deakin could not use the emergency escape, but there was no evidence from which any conclusions could be drawn.
“Mr Deakin had been involved in many business ventures and he was clearly an enthusiastic and hard-working man. He was a family man, a man who was cheerful and upbeat and a man with a zest for life. He was not selfish with his talents and enthusiasm, and he shared them with his local community.
“I offer my condolences to Mr Deakin’s wife, to his two young children and to his wider family.”
Following the publication of the determination, Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on fatalities investigations for COPFS said: “We note the Sheriff’s determination.
“The Procurator Fiscal ensured that the full facts and circumstances of Mr Deakin’s death were provided at the mandatory Fatal Accident Inquiry.
“The determination has been provided to Mr Deakin’s family and our thoughts are with them at this time.”