Grieving Drumchapel mum says her life is ruined after contractor admits safety failures

A Drumchapel mum says she and her children's lives are ruined after her 10-year-old son slipped and fell to his death in a construction site near a play park which should have been completely closed off.

Shea Ryan fell through a manhole cover to his death after a contractor failed to implement adequate safety measures on July 16, 2020.

He was able to enter the site through an insecure fence before sitting beside the open cover 60 metres from the park.

Earlier, the contractor RJ McLeod admitted not to implementing adequate safety measures to stop people from accessing the area.

“My son is not here and that destroys me every day"

Joanne Ferguson, Shea’s mother, said: “I am glad RJ McLeod finally admitted guilt.

“My son is not here and that destroys me every day.

“That totally avoidable accident has ruined my life and my kid’s lives – I don’t even feel human anymore at times because of the grief.

“I just hope this makes them consider site safety everywhere – not just for RJ McLeod but for companies everywhere because the safety of these places is so important.

The prosecutor said: “Shea began to climb down the ladder where he slipped and fell.

“From the position of the ladder, he fell to the water below.”

The distance between the ladder and the bottom of the manhole was 6.3 metres.

The other children raised the alarm and Shea’s stepdad Graham Patterson entered the manhole.

“Wee Shea is missed every second of every day"

Police attended and officers found Shea lying on his back with Mr Patterson and a neighbour beside him.

Joanne added: “I’d like to thank the prosecution for getting this over the line and holding this company accountable and for the emergency services who at least tried to save my boy.

“I also want to thank my family, friends and the Drumchapel community for their support too.

“Wee Shea is missed every second of every day and his family and friends will always love and miss him.”

An investigation carried out stated that the company “failed to undertake a full assessment on the work area and consider its close proximity to the nearby play park and the risk of children being attracted to the site as well as identify the measures to prevent unauthorised access.”

The company was also found not to have kept the existing measures under review.

They were further criticised for not having double fencing on the area of the site.

The hearing was told that the fencing had been subject to vandalism in the past and that the site had been breached on six occasions.

Bolstering the fencing had been put in place in the past but this did not happen at the area near the play park.

The fiscal depute said: “There was a lack of a formal written system that all fence reports and system were recorded in writing.”

It was stated as a result the company didn’t take sufficient action to eliminate known risk until after the incident.

Since the incident, the company has increased its fencing measures and a log has been formed. Manhole covers are also subject to checks.

Motions sensors and solar powered security cameras are also installed.

It was revealed a fatal accident inquiry into Shea’s death will take place at a later date.

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