Building company, director and foreman prosecuted by police and HSE following death of worker - 21 September 2007

Following the death of a worker, on August 31st 2005, the Crown Prosecution Service pursued a manslaughter charge against an employee of A&A Building Services Ltd while HSE (Health and Safety Executive) and Staffordshire Police also served summonses for alleged breaches of health and safety at work legislation.

Legal proceedings were brought after Mr Alexander Hayden (28) was killed when a 9-tonne dumper truck, that he was driving, overran the edge of an embankment. In trying to jump clear Mr Hayden sustained extensive injuries when he was crushed by the toppled truck and was pronounced dead at the scene, in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent.

The court heard that Mr Hayden had only been driving the 9-tonne truck for two months, during which time he had been involved in two other accidents and had not received the required training.

At Stafford Crown Court (on Friday 21st September) Mr Paul Nolan, site foreman and employee of A&A Building Services Ltd, was found not guilty of the CPS manslaughter charge but guilty of a charge under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. He was fined £5,000 to be paid within 28 days or face 3 months imprisonment. Setting the fine the Judge addressed Nolan saying that: “you were responsible for the day-to-day running of the site and showed a complete disregard for the safety of the workers working under you; you thought you knew best… but you didn’t. You were failed by your employers but you failed Alex Hayden.”

Mr Darren Barrie Atkins, a director of A&A Building Services Ltd, was found guilty of the HSE charge of breaching health and safety legislation, by failing to ensure the safety of employees, he was fined £15,000, to be paid within three months or face nine months imprisonment.

To Atkins the Judge said: “ You were the director responsible for health and safety but you did next to nothing about health and safety, ignored clear warning bells, fell very short of what was expected and there was a high degree of neglect.”

The company had already pleaded guilty, at an earlier hearing, to the health & safety breaches therefore A&A Building Services Ltd of was fined £55,000, to be paid at the rate of £1,500 per month.  Of the company the judge said: “There was a disregard to Health & Safety, it fell so very far short…… in the culture of a growing business the ethos didn’t change and slack or absent procedures stayed within the company.”

In setting the fines the judge said he had: “Paid regard to the financial position of the company but aggravating features of the case had set the high fines imposed … to send a message.“ Additionally, costs were set at £1,000 Nolan, £7,700 Atkins and £6,000 to be paid by the company.

The judge’s opening remarks best summarised the case when he said: “This Case shows why it is necessary to have proper rules and procedure on construction sites – the accident was wholly avoidable.”

HSE inspector Dave Brassington said:

“Basic health and safety precautions are all too frequently ignored and appropriate training is not given for workers on building refurbishment sites - it is completely unacceptable that so many lives are being put at risk.

“The simple fact is that, despite knowing what they should be doing, too many people are prepared to allow bad practices to continue, even though last year 39 people died on refurbishment, repair and maintenance sites.

“In this particular case there were many opportunities presented to the company, to improve the management of health and safety, but advice given by industry safety experts and the HSE was wilfully ignored.

“We are determined to tackle this issue head-on to prevent such tragedies and will continue to take enforcement action against those who flout safety precautions. Let me be clear to all those who put lives at risk – we will continue to carry out further inspections and will take all action necessary to protect workers, including closing sites and prosecution.”

HSE Regional Director Marcia Davies said:

“My advice to those who work in the refurbishment sector is to plan work, use competent workers, give the required training and use the right equipment safely.

"In June/July this year we ordered work to stop immediately during 14 on-site inspections because we felt life was at risk.  Each time that we release statistics or carry out a prosecution in the construction sector there is a momentary improvement in safe working practices but we want contractors to think 'safety first' at all times, as injury prevention is not something to start thinking about after an accident has already happened.

“We welcomed the Secretary of State's decision to hold a Construction Forum and hope that this will further influence the construction industry to manage health and safety issues to a better standard, to minimise risk to employees and the public."

Guidance and advice is available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/index.htm

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