Alex Nisbett suffered severe injuries when the machine failed last week. His colleague Gary Currie was killed in the collapse.

Nisbett’s former colleague Scott Stirling revealed that the pair were working together when the same machine failed last year.

He told the Daily Record: “Alex and I could have been killed when the crane buckled last year.

“Now, he is injured and another man is dead after the same cherrypicker buckled again. It’s unbelievable.”

The Bizzochi 43 cherrypicker failed on a refurbishment job in Glasgow last week sending the men crashing 130 ft to the ground.

The boom of the machine also buckled last June but the workers escaped when the cradle got caught on the side of the building stopping its fall.

Stirling said: “We were in the cradle when we heard a loud crash. The cage tilted and caught the building with its right-hand corner.

“We were so lucky. If we had been extended 10 inches less, we would have hit the floor.

“If it had been five minutes earlier, we would have been goners.

“I remember Alex going very white and being really concerned because his wife was due to have twins the following week.

“It wasn’t until I was back on the ground and looked up at the buckled crane that the shock set in.

“They had to cut the crane down off the side of the building.

“I couldn’t believe it when I heard he had been in another crane accident and someone else had been killed.

“It has really shaken my wife. I’m up and down on cranes all the time and have to put my trust in the companies who hire them out, as our lives are in their hands.

“The accident I had in the cherry- picker has not put me off doing my job but it makes you think. It could have been me.

“I hope this tragic incident will mean all equipment is thoroughly checked.”

Another of Nisbett’s colleagues told the Daily Record: “It is a miracle he has survived that thing twice.

“The first time the Bizzochi broke he was really shook up by it.

“He thought seriously about quitting the job because the idea of going up in the basket again terrified him.

“In the end, he got over his fear because he has a family and he wanted to bring in a wage.

“I don’t think he will ever go up in a cherrypicker again.

“It is a real shame because he is just a decent guy trying to earn a living.

“You shouldn’t have to risk your life every day when you go to work.”