Core Cut Limited employee Derek McLean was crushed after attempting to manoeuvre a 3.5-tonne BROKK machine up a set of stairs in Glasgow’s St Enoch shopping centre on August 22, 2019. Mr McLean was having difficulty gaining grip with trafficking the machine as it was being moved remotely up the stairwell.

The exact circumstances of the accident are said to be “unknown” but CCTV showed the experienced diamond drilling operative part way through tracking the machine. The dad-of-three was later found trapped between the machine and a concrete wall to the left of the stairwell.

He was also found to have the remote control used to operate the machine around his waistband. A timber board - used for tracking machinery upstairs - was found resting against a wall while another was underneath the left track of the equipment.

Core Cut Limited pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to failing to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of Mr McLean.

The firm was fined £10,000.

A preliminary hearing of the fatal accident inquiry (FAI) is set to be held at Glasgow Sheriff Court on August 15.

The family of Mr McLean released a statement through Digby Brown Solicitors, which said: “We welcome the FAI but we are still devastated about the reasons for having it.

“The loss of Derek is something we will never get over – no person should go to work and not come home.

“All we can do now is hope the FAI improves standards everywhere and protects workers and families from avoidable tragedies.”