A NORTH forestry contractor was killed by a huge surge of electricity when his truck brought down a power cable, an inquiry heard yesterday.
And Inverness Sheriff Court was told John MacKinnon may have died because he wanted to get a better mobile phone signal.
A crane mounted on Mr MacKinnon’s low loader had been extended and pulled down the overhead electric cable, setting the lorry on fire.
The director of Skye Haulage – who was alone at the time at Kyle Farm on Skye – was found more than 30ft from the vehicle.
The power line was about 25ft above the ground and Mr MacKinnon’s crane grab was 32ft long when fully extended.
The inquiry was told firefighters found his body outside the burned-out lorry. They had been warned to stay clear until engineers declared it safe.
The only clue that Mr MacKinnon had been electrocuted was a hole in his boot.
Lorry driver Donald McFarlane, 47, from Skye told the inquiry that Mr MacKinnon had loaded his vehicle with timber about lunchtime using equipment that had been bought a few weeks earlier.
He said: “As I came into the forest, I saw John on his phone. There was a poor mobile phone signal there and I can only think that he moved the vehicle to get a better reception.
“He sometimes left the crane jib fully extended if he was moving the lorry only a short distance. He wouldn’t leave it up normally.”
Mr McFarlane also said Mr MacKinnon took health and safety seriously. “For every job, we would get a verbal briefing and paperwork and, for this job, John gave it to us personally,” he said.
Michael Thompson, 60, director of Munro Harvesting, of Maryburgh, told the inquiry he had contracted Mr MacKinnon’s firm to move harvested timber he had bought from Forestry Commission Scotland.
He said he had conducted a risk assessment before the job started but the results had not been given to Mr MacKinnon.
Mr Thompson also said he had not given him maps that highlighted overhead power lines on the farm.
“We conducted a pre-commencement meeting with the Forestry Commission prior to the contract starting, but no one from Skye Transport was there,” he said. “The risk assessment was given to the commission and the operators, but not to the hauliers.
“Historically, we have never provided maps to haulage contractors. But that has now changed after what happened.
“I didn’t know John was using a crane for the job. If I did, I would have spoken to him and reminded him of the risk involved.”
Asked by Forestry Commission Scotland lawyer Stephanie Higgins if he had complied with health-and-safety guidelines for this contract, he replied: “I wouldn’t want to comment on that.”
The incident blacked out the whole of Skye and the Western Isles just days before Christmas in 2011.
The inquiry heard that the system for erecting goalpost-style structures to warn of live overhead cables had been changed since the tragic death.
Previously, bunting was hung between the uprights, but now solid crossbars are used.
The inquiry before Sheriff Margaret Neilson continues.