Mobile phone could have saved man's life

Published on Thursday 4 September 2008 22:11

THE life of a gamekeeper involved in a quad bike accident might have been saved if he had been issued with a mobile phone or a check-in system at night was in operation, a sheriff has ruled.

Sheriff Jamie Gilmour also said the death of Douglas Armstrong, 53, illustrated the need for employers to assess the risks for lone workers regarding training and communication.

Mr Armstrong staggered for about 200 yards and managed to open a ten-foot-high gate after the accident before collapsing. A fatal accident inquiry determined it would never be known how long he lay in the field before his body was found, but it could have been up to 52 hours.

Mr Armstrong died while covering for Ian Girdwood, the regular gamekeeper on Philiphaugh Estate near Selkirk, who had gone into hospital for a shoulder operation in October 2004. But it was not until a couple of days later when Mr Girdwood was recovering at home that he realised he had not heard the quad bike doing its pheasant feed run and a search was launched.

The inquiry at Selkirk Sheriff Court heard that Mr Armstrong died after suffering a fractured pelvis, ruptured bladder and internal bleeding caused by the quad bike rolling on him.

Sheriff Gilmour said: "Had Mr Armstrong been provided with a mobile telephone or instructed to carry one for emergency use as part of the risk assessment then, although there can be no certainty, his life might have been saved."