Firm fined for safety breach that caused 2005 electrocution, but directors are acquitted

Mitie Engineering Services has been fined £300,000 after a worker was fatally electrocuted three years ago.

Michael Adamson, 26, was working at the JJB Sports Centre and Retail Outlet when he was killed in August 2005 after coming into contact with a live conductor in a cable he was working on.

The firm was found guilty of breaching the 1974 Health and Safety at Work etc Act and fined £300,000, but two company directors and the project manager were acquitted.

Despite being labelled “not in use”, the Dundee sheriff court heard that the cable Adamson was working on was actually live.

Jim Skilling, principal inspector at the Health and Safety Executive, said that Adamson had not been provided with the necessary test equipment to prove the cable was dead.

He added: “The industry's complacency in accepting dangerous practices is startling.”

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