Two contractors have been fined more than £1m after a worker was crushed to death when an unsupported trench collapsed at a site in Surrey.
Main contractor Appledorn Developments and subcontractor T Vaughan were convicted of breaching the Health and Safety Act following a trial at the Old Bailey yesterday (9 September). T Vaughan was fined £650,000 and ordered to pay costs of £40,000, and Appledorn Developments was fined £500,000.
Gheorghita Arsene, 33, known as Geo, was working at a site on Park Road, Banstead, Surrey on 24 June 2020. He was replacing a damaged pipe at the bottom of a deep trench, dug with a three-tonne digger, when, without warning, one or more of the trench walls collapsed. Although rescue attempts were made, he was buried in approximately two tonnes of soil and died at the scene.
A joint investigation by Surrey Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) over five years found there were no supports in the trench and excavated soil had been deposited immediately next to it.
“Gheorghita Arsene’s death was as horrifying as it was preventable. He lost his life because basic precautions were not in place to protect workers from the well-known risks that come with excavation work.”
Site manager given suspended sentence
The investigation also found that, earlier that day, Anthony O’Connor, a self-employed contracts manager working for T Vaughan, had observed another worker in the same unsupported excavation. The HSE said that, as an experienced contracts manager, O’Connor knew suitable measures were required to prevent a trench collapse but failed to ensure they were implemented.
He pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
An HSE spokesperson said: “Gheorghita Arsene’s death was as horrifying as it was preventable. He lost his life because basic precautions were not in place to protect workers from the well-known risks that come with excavation work.
“Anthony O’Connor had observed workers in the trench without adequate protection and was aware of the measures required to prevent a collapse.”
