A north-east Sheriff has lamented safety failings in his report on the death of a much-loved farmer three years ago.
Alan Ironside, 39, was pulled into a combine harvester and suffered fatal neck and head injuries on August 13, 2013.
Mr Ironside had been working at a farm near Turriff with his father, Andrew, when the latter accidentally switched on the harvester by pressing a button inside its cab.
He was dragged into the machine and died at the scene.
At a fatal accident inquiry in Banff Sheriff Court last week, Sheriff Philip Mann said the tragedy was one that was “all too familiar” in the farming industry.
He has now published his official judgement on the case which concluded that the death could have been avoided if the men had followed safety advice.
Sheriff Mann added that it was “by no means uncommon” for farmers to take risks.
He added: “If Mr Ironside and his father, Andrew Neil Ironside, who was working alongside him, had taken the precaution of completely turning off the combine harvester by following the ‘safe stop’ procedure recommended by the ‘safe use of combine harvesters’ information sheet prepared by the Health and Safety Executive, the accident which resulted in Mr Ironside’s death after being pulled into the working machinery would not have occurred.
“Mr Ironside and his father went about the task of clearing the blockage in the combine harvester in exactly the same way as many others would have done.
“Mr Ironside, I am sure, would have known instinctively that he was taking a risk in setting about the task in the way that he did.”
The Sheriff also expressed his sympathy to Mr Ironside’s wife, Allyson, his father and his wider family.
At the time of his death, tributes described the father-of-one as a “great young guy” who “went the extra mile”.