The Health and Safety Executive has warned operators of aerial cableways they must ensure they have robust safety systems in place.

The call, to those who work cableways such as gondola cars or chairlifts, follows an incident in the Scottish Highlands, which seriously injured five people - Theresa Murphy, Craig Harris, Caitlin Harris, Jelle Koen and Daniel Koen-Ashley

At Fort William Sheriff Court yesterday, Nevis Range Development Co plc and an employee were fined a total of £3,000, when they pleaded guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Nevis Range Development Co pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They were fined £2,000.

Gondola Operator Kevin Byrne, an employee of the company, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was fined £1,000.

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The accident happened on 13 July 2006 when a gondola cable car on the Nevis Range Gondola came off the haul / suspension rope and collided with the car in front before falling 30 feet to the ground.

The forward car then tilted towards the ground, ejecting one passenger, and causing the other to jump to the ground.

At the conclusion of the trial, HSE Inspector Douglas Conner commented that this was a complex investigation for HSE.

He said: "This was a serious incident which could easily have had fatal consequences. As it was, five people including one child were injured, due to the failure of the company and their employee to ensure that strict health and safety rules were being followed.

"Notwithstanding the individual operator failings, the procedures provided by the company to gondola operators following an emergency stop of the gondola induced by a 'grip gauge fault' were lacking.

"Good communication must be assured at critical times such as in emergency stop situations and this communication must be reliable and effective, in this instance it was lacking.

"Latent failures in organisations such as poor communication and people's uncertainties about their roles or responsibilities can pose the same, or even greater potential danger to health and safety as active failures.

"In an operation like this, it is vital that aerial uplift operators have robust operating systems in place and that these are regularly reviewed."

(GK/JM)