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Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that there were no signs on the haulage routes being used. They also identified that there was no edge protection in place to prevent vehicles from going over the edge of the ramp, and that excavations adjacent to some of the vehicle routes had unsupported, vertical faces, which were at risk of collapse.
The incident occurred in an area where SCS Railways was building a cut-and-cover tunnel – shallow tunnels built on the surface before being buried, with trees, plants, and shrubs planted on top. Material from the excavation was to be reused, removing the need to take it off site.
SCS Railways had contracted another company – ACE Grab Hire and Haulage (ACE) – to transport excavation material via 20-tonne tipper trucks to an area under the control of Align JV, another joint venture working on HS2. ACE drivers had been operating at the site for about two weeks by the time the incident occurred.
The subsequent HSE investigation found that on the morning of the incident, the SCS earthworks team changed their working area after an Align JV representative found the original material could not be used.
This meant moving the excavator’s loading position and creating a new traffic route. The change inadvertently left an unprotected edge on the bank above.
When the first ACE tipper truck driver used the higher-level bank instead of the intended new route, his vehicle slipped on the ramp. The next ACE driver followed the same path and his vehicle veered off the edge of the bank.
This states that physical barriers, such as safety banks, should be provided at the edges of excavations. Guidance on excavations can also be found at Excavations - HSE. Haul roads on construction sites are also classed as temporary works and guidance can be found at Temporary Works - HSE.
SCS Railways, of 1 Hercules Way, Leavesden, Watford, pleaded guilty to contravening section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,974 at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on 16 June 2026.
Unsafe conditions for drivers
HSE Inspector Gordon Carson said: “SCS had detailed procedures in place for much of the work at the site, including temporary works schemes for excavations.
“However, its failure to properly plan and promptly communicate changes in vehicle routes created unsafe conditions for the drivers of tipper trucks.
“The consequences of this could have been even more serious than they were for the driver involved in this incident.”
The investigation was carried out by HM inspectors Saif Deen and Gordon Carson. The prosecution was brought by HSE lawyer Andrew Siddall and paralegal Benjamin Stobbart.
