On 25 June 2020, Mr Pirie was working with Mr Scott Menhinick, a tree surgeon. Both were working in a self-employed capacity. Mr Menhinick ascended a tree and carried out the sectional removal of timber using a chainsaw. The cut timber was allowed to fall to the ground into a drop zone instead of being lowered by other means, such as a pulley system. Mr Pirie and two others were working on the ground at the base of the tree, removing cut timber from the drop zone. Mr Menhinick cut a section from the top of the trunk, which fell into the drop zone and struck Mr Pirie, causing fatal injuries.
The Health and Safety Executive investigated the circumstances of Mr Pirie’s death. Their report was submitted to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service on 22 September 2021, which instructed summary criminal proceedings against Mr Menhinick in relation to a charge alleging contravention of section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (‘the 1974 Act’). Mr Menhinick was found not guilty.
Section 3(2) of the 1974 Act provides as follows: “It shall be the duty of every self-employed person who conducts an undertaking of a prescribed description to conduct the undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”
A Fatal Accident Inquiry into Mr Pirie’s death determined that there were precautions which could reasonably have been taken, and had they been taken might realistically have avoided the accident which resulted in Mr Pirie’s death. The precautions included the drop zone being clearly marked, clear communication between Mr Menhinick and those on the ground, and the timber being cut in smaller sections.
Sheriff Miller found that although safe execution of the work rested with the work party as a whole, Mr Menhinick bore particular responsibility, considering the focus of the work was tree-felling at height and he was the only person present who was qualified to undertake that work. Accordingly, “he bore a particular responsibility for the assessment and management of the obvious risk to himself and others arising from the work which he alone undertook that day, including the risks to those working on the ground from falling timber.”
Mr Pirie’s tragic death and the subsequent findings of the Inquiry are a stark reminder of why duties are imposed upon self-employed persons to protect others from risks to their health and safety. Self-employed persons should heed the duties imposed by section 3 of the 1974 Act to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that risks are assessed and managed adequately.