Steven Tervit was working for Food Process Engineering Limited and was dismantling a cleanroom at the time of the incident
The collapsing panel accident took place on 9 November 2022, seeing a series of wall panels collapsing and ejecting Steven from a scissor lift.
He fell about four metres from the lift and landed on the concrete floor of the warehouse.
Steven was 32 years old at the time of the accident
After falling, Steven was taken to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital with a traumatic brain injury, rib fractures, lung contusions, and fractures to his right thigh and left shin bones.
He sadly passed away the next day.
HSE investigated, and found that the company did not adequately assess and manage the risks in the room when dismantling a structure it had not originally installed. The cleanroom was a steel-framed structure with walls and a roof made of polyurethane panels 6.1 metres tall.
Once the roof was removed, these panels did not have sufficient support to keep their structural stability. The HSE investigation found that the risk assessment and method statement did not address this, and although the statement specified that ‘A-frame’ props or supports should be used, none were present or in use at the site when the accident happened.
Before work began, visual inspections of the exterior of the cleanroom were carried out, and work began on the assumption that it was originally constructed to industry standard.
HSE asserts that this assumption should never be made without verification, as the disassembly of a structure built by a third party carries risk of latent defects, increasing the risk of structural failure. Furthermore, the company also did not communicate the risk assessment and method statement to employees carrying out the work, meaning as well as having incomplete information, workers on site were even less well prepared.
Food Process Engineering Limited pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1), 2(a) and (c) and 33(1)(a) and (c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974, and was fined £50,000 with a victim surcharge of £3,750.
Construction remains deadliest career – with falls from height on top
Of the incident, HSE inspector Amna Doherty, said: “The failings of this company cost a much-loved husband, father and son his life.
“Falls from height remain the leading cause of workplace death and injury.
“There was a lack of planning in terms of the risk and those being tasked with the job were not aware of the dangers posed to them.
“We will not hesitate to take action against those who fail to protect their workers.”
In March, research from Astutis was released showing that 2025 had the same number of fatalities in the construction industry as 2015, with the data supporting that very little progress has been made in making the industry safer.
The top five fatal accidents in 2025 were:
- Falls from a height: 35 accidents
- Struck by moving, including flying/falling, objects: 18 accidents
- Trapped by something collapsing/overturning: 17 accidents
- Struck by a moving vehicle: 14 accidents
- Contact with moving machinery: 13 accidents
Brenig Moore, technical director and HSE expert at Astutis, commented: “The construction industry has always come with a massive risk, but what we’re seeing ten years on is a huge shift in where those particular risks sit, and also how they manifest on site.
“Traditional hazards such as moving vehicles, working at height and structural instability remain the biggest causes of fatalities in the UK.
“However, construction is becoming more complex, which therefore means more serious risks. Modern sites now have technology that is much more advanced and tighter deadlines and stricter outputs, meaning many people are becoming over-worked, suffering from burnout or making mistakes from feeling fatigued.”
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