Prosecutions

At Maidstone Crown Court recently the employer was fined £20,000. A jury found him guilty of breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and regulation 37(6) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

The prosecution, brought jointly by Kent Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), follows an incident on 5 December 2007. An employee of the company was working to extend a finger of land which was being used as a temporary roadway out into a flooded quarry. The vehicle he was driving, a site dumper, came off the roadway and he became trapped under it in the quarry. He drowned at the scene.

A HSE inspector commented:

"This case demonstrated - as do so many site transport incidents - that reliance on a competent driver and a properly-maintained vehicle is simply not enough. Workplace transport incidents are nearly always preventable. Had the employer ensured that the simple measure of providing proper edge protection to the site roads was in place then the risk of vehicles leaving the road could have been prevented.

This tragic case so sadly illustrates the hazards that are all too frequently faced by construction workers. "The law is clear and where employers fail to safeguard their workers and injury, ill-health or death result - HSE will take enforcement action.”