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Following successful prosecution of a Fort William cable car operator in 2008 and the probability of a compensation claim in Scotland from at least one of the injured parties involved in the accident of July 2006, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have warned all such passenger transport companies to have robust safety systems in place.
On the day of the accident an emergency stop system was activated when a gondola started swinging soon after it left the top station on the mountainside. The whole system was halted.
Fort William Sheriff Court heard how the control panel for the operation of the cable car system indicated there was a fault with the grip gauge mechanism which holds the gondola on to the suspension cable.
The court was told that the operating procedure manual clearly sets out actions that should take place in such a situation. Safety guidelines state that the operator must reverse the car back into the station and then forward again. The system should only be restarted if, once checked, no faults are apparent.
The operator on the day of the accident is alleged to have visually examined the gondola without first reversing it. He is reported to have replaced a broken device and then depressed the reset button indicating that the fault had been fixed. The controller on duty in the bottom station maintained responsibility for re-starting the system. After the reset button had been activated he assumed all issues had been addressed and restarted the system.
However, the faulty gondola slid down the cable, colliding with the next car, eventually dropping 25ft to the ground.
The youngest injured party was a three year-old girl who suffered a broken leg in the accident; both her parents were injured and another father and his son were also involved. The father, who is considering a civil case for compensation, suffered serious personal injury including a punctured lung.
HSE inspector Douglas Conner said, "This was a serious incident which could easily have had fatal consequences.
"As it was, five people including one child were injured, due to the failure of the company and their employee to ensure that strict health and safety rules were being followed.
"Notwithstanding the individual operator failings, the procedures provided by the company to gondola operators following an emergency stop of the gondola induced by a 'grip gauge fault' were lacking."
He added, "Latent failures in organisations such as poor communication and people's uncertainties about their roles or responsibilities can pose the same, or even greater potential danger to health and safety as active failures."
Accident compensation claims in Scotland
If you have been involved in an accident in Scotland that was not your fault or that was caused by someone else's negligence you may be able to make a compensation claim with YouClaim. Our panel of personal injury solicitors are experienced in making successful Scottish compensation claims and are governed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, thereby guaranteeing you the highest level of professionalism at all times.
We operate on a no win, no fee basis, which means you do not have to pay for our legal services whether you win or lose. We also ensure you will receive 100 percent of any award that is made. Quite simply, you will never have to pay us a penny, win or lose.
So, if you have had an accident and wish to make a compensation claim in Scotland call our free helpline now on 0800 10 757 95 and our friendly operators will be able to advise you regarding your claim. Alternatively we can call you back at a time to suit you or you could even fill in our online claim form and we will look into the details before calling you back.
