News Article

Unsupported excavations can kill


Posted by Chris Owen | Date Posted 22.11.2007 | Time Posted 09:20:00 | Views: 437

George Wimpey (North East) Ltd and A W Cowan (Groundworks) Ltd were fined at Teesside Crown Court for health and safety failures that permitted the death of one man and the injury of another, on a housing site at Springfields, Church Hill, Skelton, on 8th March 2004. An unsupported trench collapsed on the men, the surviving workman suffering serious injuries.

George Wimpey, principal contractor, was fined £300,000 with £28,367 costs under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, A W Cowan of Darlington was fined £20,000 plus £5,000 costs under the Principal Act.

A HSE Inspector commented: "This fatality and the serious injury could easily have been prevented if the appropriate safety measures had been taken. Trench collapses are entirely avoidable. Without suitable support, any vertical face of an excavation will collapse; it's just a matter of when. If heavy machinery is operated on the edge of the excavation, as happened in this case, an earlier collapse is inevitable. Excavation work has to be properly planned, managed, supervised and carried out to prevent accidents."


Published in sections: Health and Safety ::

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