Skanska Construction UK Limited, Costain Limited, and Strabag AG have been fined following an incident involving an HS2 contractor and a falling tipper in 2021
In July 2021, an HS2 contractor working for the joint venture was injured when a tipper truck weighing 20 tonnes slipped off the edge of an excavation ramp.
The incident took place in Copthall North, near Uxbridge in West London, on a site being operated by SCS Railways, a venture set up by the JV.
The tipper landed on its driver’s side, and the man driving the vehicle suffered a broken nose, a cut hand, and a shoulder injury as a result of the drop.
HSE investigation discovered safety failings
HSE inspectors visited the site after the incident and noted the lack of haulage routes and edge protection to prevent vehicles from slipping, as the tipper truck did. Furthermore, some excavations adjacent to vehicle routes were unsupported, consisting of simple vertical faces at risk of collapse.
The area where the truck fell was under construction as a cut-and-cover tunnel, a shallow tunnel built on the surface before being covered with trees, plants, and shrubs. The tipper truck was to take material from this excavation off-site. Drivers under ACE Grab Hire and Haulage Limited (ACE) had been operating in these conditions for roughly two weeks.
On the morning of the incident, the SCS earthworks team changed their working area after it was found that the original material could not be used. This meant the excavator had to move the loading position, and a new traffic route was created. This change left an unprotected edge on the bank. A first driver went up the ramp, and his vehicle slipped. Despite this demonstration of danger, the second vehicle was allowed to go up the ramp afterwards without any safety precautions being put in place, and then the incident occurred.
HSE provides guidance on managing vehicles on site
SCS Railways pleaded guilty to contravening section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,947 at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court.
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.”
Guidance on managing vehicles on construction sites can be found in the HSE publication HSG 144, The safe use of vehicles on construction sites, which states that physical barriers, such as safety banks, must be provided at the edges of excavations.
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