Three companies have been sentenced in Lincoln Crown Court after a worker’s leg was broken in six places in a trench collapse.

Vincent Talbot, 47, from Lincoln, suffered serious leg injuries when his leg was crushed in the incident at Fleet Street, Holbeach, Lincolnshire on 9 March 2012.

He was trapped in the trench for 15 minutes before being extracted by the fire and rescue service and then airlifted to hospital.

Trench Collapse Injury

His right ankle has been left permanently damaged, pointing 10 degrees off line. He was off work for more than a year and vows never to work in a trench again.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found insufficient measures were taken to protect those working in trench, and a series of safety errors had led to the collapse.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found insufficient measures were taken to protect those working in trench, and a series of safety errors had led to the collapse.

Principal contractor, Kier MG Ltd, was appointed by Lincolnshire County Council to install new storm drains.

Kier Outsourcing

Kier MG Ltd sub-contracted the installation work to John Henry & Sons (Civil Engineers) Ltd, who subsequently further sub-contracted the work to Lawless Civils Ltd.

Mr Talbot was a self-employed contractor hired by Lawless Civils Ltd. John Henry & Sons (Civil Engineers) Ltd, failed to inform Kier MG of the appointment of Lawless Civils Ltd.

Lawless were approved contractors of Kier MG but not approved for this type of specialist excavation work.  Lawless appointed a supervisor who had never supervised work, he did not have the relevant training and qualifications to do so.

After the accident to Vince Talbot, John Henry & Sons (Civil Engineers) Ltd, backdated the method statement to give the impression that it was signed by the workers prior to the trench collapsing.

After the accident to Vince Talbot, John Henry & Sons (Civil Engineers) Ltd, backdated the method statement to give the impression that it was signed by the workers prior to the trench collapsing.

Pipe Strategy

A three-metre long trench box shielded workers but the pipes being laid in the trench were six metres long, meaning workers weren’t protected over the length of the pipe.

Other trench support systems such as trench sheeting were not used, and the unsupported trench had water leaking into it.

The trench had been left open overnight and concrete was being used to bed the pipes in at the bottom of the trench, instead of pea gravel as specified by the client.

Water mixed with the concrete, making the pipe levelling process extremely difficult as the level of the pipe bed had to be continuously adjusted.

When Vince Talbot was attempting to level a pipe section for a second time, the sides of the trench collapsed and trapped him.

Kier MG Ltd (formerly known as May Gurney Ltd) of Tempsford Hall, Sandy, Bedfordshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. They were fined £1.5million and ordered to pay £23,327.83.

Civil Engineers

John Henry & Sons (Civil Engineers) Ltd of Barnwell Road, Cambridge denied the charge but was found guilty, after a trial of breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc.  Act 1974. They were fined £550,000 and ordered to pay £166,217.86.

Lawless Civils Ltd of Doddington Road, Lincoln, pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They were fined £40,500 and ordered to pay £53,346.59.

HSE inspector Martin Waring said: “This incident was foreseeable and avoidable and Mr Talbot’s injuries were the result of multiple failings by the duty holders, from the planning stage through to the execution of the project, resulting in the inevitable collapse of an unsupported trench. Sufficient trench support systems were not provided.

“Even while the excavation phase had begun, a catalogue of errors and omissions led to the injuries of Vincent Talbot. It is inevitable that at some time an unsupported trench will collapse, for this reason safe systems of work, should be in place in order to protect persons who work in trenches. We could easily have been dealing with a fatal incident.”

Further information on planning and safely undertaking excavation work can be found on the HSE website at:

www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/excavations.htm

More tragic news with Skill Builder.

A building company and its director have been fined for breaching Gas Safety law after putting a childminder and children in her care at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Plastic and Wood Specialists Ltd built a structure, that the childminder used to shelter sleeping babies and young children, around the flue outlet for the boiler. A carbon monoxide alarm sounded in the home and the gas supply was later disconnected by an emergency engineer from National Grid.

Northampton Magistrates’ Court heard that a gas boiler flue that had been previously installed in the childminders home was made unsafe by the structure as it affected the safety of the boiler.

HSE’s investigation found that the structure should not have been constructed in a way that partially enclosed the boiler flue. The flue should have been extended before the structure was completed. If dangerous levels of carbon monoxide had built up when these vulnerable children were in the structure there could have been multiple fatalities.

Plastic and Wood Specialists Ltd pleaded guilty of Regulation 8(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 were fined £40,000 with £1,419.10 in costs. Company director Alan John Wager pleaded guilty to Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was given a 26 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months with £1,419.10 in costs.

HSE Inspector Jenna McDade said: “Builders should be aware of the dangers arising from enclosing or partially enclosing a flue. As with this case, they would be at risk of breaching gas safety regulations even if they are not gas fitters. It is important to understand the risks before undertaking the work.”

For more information and guidance relating to domestic gas safety please go to www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/index.htm

A builder from Surrey has been prosecuted for the fall of a worker.

Redhill Magistrates heard how the worker fell 3.2 m through an opening in a roof onto a concrete floor. He survived the fall but was left with broken ribs, swelling to his brain and nerve damage.

An investigation found that he was part of the team building an extension to a house. They had been working on the roof, adjacent to an opening created previously, but as it had begun to rain they wanted to cover the exposed parts with plastic sheeting and tarpaulins. The opening, which was approximately 2 metres by 1.5 metres had no measures to prevent persons falling, or mitigate the consequences of any fall. The worker stepped backwards into the opening and fell.

Frank Gaskin, a self-employed builder who trades under the name of FG Blockplan from Coldstream Road, Caterham, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6 (3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. He was fined £2,400 and ordered to pay costs of £2,935.42 with a victim surcharge of £120.

Two London based construction companies were prosecuted after a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspection identified serious safety breaches on a double basement construction project.

Westminster Magistrates Court heard that emergency services had been called to a property at Bathurst Mews, London, where excavation work to form a double basement was being carried out.  They rescued a labourer with a broken arm and reported their concerns about the dangerous site to the Health and safety Executive (HSE).

The HSE inspection found, despite the incident, workers were at risk from falling into deep excavations and there were no propping arrangements to ensure the stability of excavations or the existing building. The inspector immediatley shut down the site. The investigation by HSE found that an independent consultant had raised the same concerns a few months previous but the recommendations had been ignored.

workers were at risk from falling into deep excavations and there were no propping arrangements to ensure the stability of excavations or the existing building

The Principal Contractor Lifehouse (London) Ltd appointed Nu Space Design Ltd as the contractor to carry out the excavation work and one of its directors as the site manager.  Neither company appointed a competent person to inspect the excavations to ensure they were safe.

Lifehouse (London) Ltd of 28 Church Road, Stanmore, HA7 4XR pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) and was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay £1,141.50 in costs.

Nu Space (Design) Ltd of 39 Wimborne Avenue, Hayes, UB4 0HQ pleaded guilty to breaching CDM Regulation 15(2) and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £1,067.10 in costs.

HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers commented after the hearing:

“Both companies were aware of the dangers on the site following the warnings in a consultant’s report, but they failed to act on the recommendations and a worker was injured.

“When carrying out any construction work, whether new build or refurbishments you have to ensure it is done safely. In this case they should have appointed a competent person to carry out regular inspections of the excavations to ensure they did not collapse onto workers or cause the building to become unstable during the work”.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today informed BAM Nuttall Limited, Ferrovial Agroman (UK) Ltd, and Keir Infrastructure and Overseas Ltd that they will be prosecuted in relation to three incidents that took place during the construction of the new Crossrail railway tunnel construction, which runs east to west across London.

All three companies will appear at Westminster’s Magistrates Court in January 2017 to face four charges, each. Two relating to the death of Rene Tka’cik on the 7 March 2014 and one each relating to injuries to Terrence Hughes on the 16 January and Alex Vizitiu on 22 January 2015.

Rene Tka’cik died after he was crushed by falling concrete on the 7 March 2014 while working on the Fisher street cross-over tunnel.

Terrance ‘Ian’ Hughes was working between the Bond Street and Paddington section of the tunnel on the 16 January 2015 when he was crushed by a tipper truck. He suffered severe leg injuries.

Alex Vizitiu was working in the same stretch of the tunnel on 22 January 2015. He suffered head and hip injuries when he was struck by a high pressure mixture of water and concrete during a routine operation to clean concrete lines.

HSE’s Head of Operations, Annette Hall said: “We have today informed the three contractors that they will each be prosecuted for the death of a worker and injuries sustained by two others, in three separate incidents on the construction project.

“These were all serious incidents and resulted in the death of one of their workers.

“We have concluded following thorough investigations that there is sufficient evidence to prosecute and it is in the public interest to do so.”

BAM Nuttall Limited of St James House, Knoll Road, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 3XW, Ferrovial Agroman (UK) Ltd of 10^th Floor, Bsi Building, 389 Chiswick High Road, London, W4 4AL and Keir Infrastructure and Overseas Ltd of Tempsford Hall, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2BD  will each face four charges:

One charge under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

One charge under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974

Two charges under Regulation 22 (1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007