Health and safety investigators probe shocking digger footage at Fife building site

Health and safety experts are probing footage of a man working perilously close to a moving digger at a Fife housing development.

The footage from Pattiesmuir shows a worker, who is not wearing a hard hat, in a trench while a mechanical digger fills it with materials.

As the digger fills the trench with gravel, the bucket appears to move very close to the worker’s unprotected head.

A spokesperson for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – the UK’s national regulator for workplace safety – confirmed he was aware of the footage.

“A concern about this site has been reported to us and we are currently looking into the matters raised.”

Companies guilty of health and safety failings face HSE sanctions ranging from advice to a prohibition notice, or even prosecution.

A local resident captured the footage on the afternoon of February 27.

Local residents have in the past spoken to The Courier with concerns about building work in Pattiesmuir, which is a tiny hamlet west of Rosyth.

Fife Council has granted Premier Homes permission to build eight new houses on agricultural land at the hamlet.

We contacted Premier Homes for comment, but they replied that they were “unable” to respond.

Last year, the company’s Carol Williams accused residents of conducting a “smear campaign” against her business.

However, the residents strongly deny this claim.

Shock and anger

We spoke to a local resident, who asked to remain anonymous.

“When I saw the digger footage I was shocked and angry, but definitely not surprised.

“Since day one of this development the developers have consistently done whatever they wanted.

“The developer has the overall responsibility but has taken no responsibility whatsoever.”

Residents say the new housing is not in character with the rest of the hamlet, which the local authority granted conservation area status in 1974.

And they are unhappy with a number of aspects of how the developers have gone ahead with the building work.

These include heavy lorries thundering past their homes.

Following the digger incident, the resident says there is concern about the safety of those working on site.

“There are concerns someone could be hurt on site

“The general mood among residents is one of stress, genuine disbelief at the lack of regulation and control of these people, and the worry each day about ‘what are they going to do next’.”