Web-video of man swinging on digger condemned

The clip, filmed at a work premises in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, had been posted on the internet site YouTube. It showed a workman laughing and whooping as he was spun through the air by the arm of the machine, narrowly missing stacks of industrial crates.

It is understood that one employee was dismissed, and two others left the company they worked for, following an investigation into the stunt.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) spokesman said: "HSE condemns the irresponsible and dangerous behaviour being shown on these YouTube videos. Working in the construction industry is a high risk occupation. Last year 59 construction workers were killed and many thousands more injured or suffered ill-health.

"These videos show and encourage irresponsible behaviour that could have gone seriously wrong and led to the death or serious injury of their friends and co-workers."