Man killed at East Ayrshire chipboard production and wood recycling plant

A man has died following an incident at wood construction material manufacturer EGGER’s Auchinleck modern chipboard production and wood recycling site in East Ayrshire, Scotland.

Kenneth Aitchison, 60, was working for transport contracting company KLH Transport Limited, of which he was a director, at EGGER’s site when he was struck by a large vehicle just after 10am on Tuesday (3 September).

Paramedics worked on Aitchison, who had recevied severe heard injuries, for almost two hours before he was pronounced dead.

A spokesperson for EGGER said: "The emergency services were on site quickly, but were unable to resuscitate the man. The wood storage area is currently barricaded off whilst investigations, both by ourselves and the authorities, are carried out.

“We are deeply saddened and shocked by this loss of life and our thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of the deceased. Until the investigations are carried out we are not in a position to comment further."

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which has opened an investigation into the incident, explicitly named reducing fatal injuries from moving vehicles as a priority in its recent sector plan (19 September) for improving health and safety in the waste and recycling industry, which saw 14 people fatally injured over the 2016/17 period, almost ten times higher than the industry average across all sectors.