Man, 63, was crushed to death by machine he was trying to repair at West Lothian sewage plant

A workmate told a Fatal Accident Inquiry they carried out CPR before paramedics arrived.

A maintenance engineer was tragically crushed to death by a machine he was trying to repair, a fatal accident inquiry has heard.

Matthew Price was trapped when his body became pinned between a handrail on a giant revolving scraper in a sewage works and a metal safety fence.

The 63-year-old died in hospital following the industrial accident at Veolia’s Whitburn waste water treatment plant in West Lothian on 31 January 2018.

Matthew Price.

The official cause of death was given as “chest trauma and probable mechanical asphyxia”, the inquiry at Livingston Sheriff Court was told.

On the first day of the legal probe into Matt’s death, his workmate Colin Buchanan told how he discovered his friend’s body lying at the side of a giant circular tank.

He said the tragedy happened on what was “just a usual morning”.

Mr Buchanan, 50, said he left Matt in the site office to walk round taking test samples and checking that all the machinery was working properly.

During his inspection tour he noticed that a tyre had come half off a metal drive wheel which powered the circular ‘bridge’ sweeper assembly around Final Settlement Tank Number 2.

He said: “If it had kept on going it would have come off. If it did come off it would have stopped it.”

He reported the issue to a manager who issued a work order for Matt to replace the tyre.

'He was trapped'

Mr Buchanan told the inquiry: “Matt said he would go down and have a look at the job to see what was needed to be done. That was about 9am.

“At about 9.45 I was leaving to go to Blackburn and as a courtesy I drove round to tell him I was leaving.

“I shouted over to him: ‘See you in a wee while’, but I didn’t see any movement.

“The way he was lying I thought it was just part of the job. Then I saw he was actually trapped.

“He was in gap between the stanchion and the bridge itself. He was laying over the middle railing with the handrail of the bridge applying pressure to him.

“He was trapped between the bridge and the stanchion. Both his arms were through the fence and he was leaning through.

“His chest was where it caught him, both ribs. He was limp. His face was a purple colour.

“I hit the emergency stop button to stop the drive and tried to pull the bridge back, but I couldn’t pull it back myself.”

Mr Buchanan said he sounded the horn of his van and another worker rushed down to give him a hand.

Workers performed CPR

He went on: “When we pulled the bridge back Matt moved forward. Given his position it was difficult to move him from the bridge.

“It felt as if he was going to fall in the tank. We had to pull it back and hold him at the same time.”

He said they performed CPR on Matt until an ambulance arrived to take him to hospital.

He couldn’t think of any reason why Matt had leaned through the fence or why the moving bridge assembly had not been switched off before he attempted any work.

Under questioning by Dana Forbes QC, representing Matt’s wife Tracy and family, he suggested: “Maybe he’s just slipped. I don’t know if he’s fallen through there or looked through. I don’t know what happened.”

In response to Veolia’s advocate Peter Gray QC he agreed that Matt had been a “safe, thorough and conscientious” employee who helped train apprentices how to do the job correctly.

Shown a photograph of a hammer found later when Final Settlement Tank Number 2 was drained, he identified it as Matt’s.

The inquiry, before Sheriff Peter Hammond, continues.