Three contractors have been hit with fines totalling £2m after a worker had his leg crushed when a trench collapsed on him.
Vincent Talbot suffered serious 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.
His right ankle has been left permanently damaged, pointing 10 degrees off line and he was off work for more than a year.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found insufficient measures were taken to protect people working in the trench on the site, where contractor Kier was employed as main contractor to install storm drains, and that a series of safety errors had led to the collapse.
Kier MG had subcontracted the installation work to engineer John Henry & Sons, which subsequently further subcontracted the work to Lawless Civils.
Talbot was a self-employed contractor hired by Lawless Civils, but John Henry & Sons failed to inform Kier MG of the appointment of Lawless Civils.
Lawless Civils was an approved contractor of Kier MG but not approved for this type of specialist excavation work. Lawless Civils appointed a supervisor who did not have the relevant training and qualifications to oversee work.
Prior to the incident, trench support systems such as trench sheeting were not used, and the unsupported trench had water leaking into it.
It had also 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.
The trench collapsed when Talbot was attempting to level a section of pipe.
HSE inspector Martin Waring said the incident could easily have been fatal. “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,” he said.
“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.”
After the accident, John Henry & Sons backdated the method statement to give the impression that it was signed by the workers prior to the trench collapsing.
Kier MG – known at the time as May Gurney before its acquisition in 2013 – pleaded guilty and was fined £1.5m and ordered to pay £23,327.83 in costs.
John Henry & Sons denied the charge but was found guilty. The firm was fined £550,000 and ordered to pay £166,217.86 in costs.
Lawless Civils pleaded guilty and was fined £40,500 and ordered to pay £53,346.59 in costs.
