A hearing at the Old Bailey has revealed how safety concerns were brought up on the same day four workers were crushed to death
According to evidence presented at the Old Bailey, safety concerns had been raised about a Norfolk construction site before four men were killed.
The case, which was brought against Claxton Engineering Services and Encompass Project Management, revealed issues relating to the safety of the site had been raised the same day as the deaths occurred. Additionally, soil slippage had been reported a fortnight prior. However, work was not stopped.
The hearing exposed health and safety failings that led to the fatalities in Great Yarmouth in January 2011. Brothers Daniel (30) and Thomas (26) Hazleton, Adam Taylor (28), and Peter Johnson (41) were killed when a reinforced 32-tonne metal cage collapsed on them.
Health and safety failings
Claxton contracted the work out to Encompass. Both admitted breaching health and safety regulations, as did the latter firm’s director David Groucott. The two companies were fined more than £700,000 but will not face jail for the incident.
Judge Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said Encompass was not qualified nor competent to carry out the work, which should have been undertaken by structural engineers. He said Claxton had failed in its choice of contractor because of this.
Furthermore, metal on the cage was not connected properly and when it fell on the four men help came too late.
Claxton Engineering Services was fined £500,000 and ordered to pay costs of £100,000. Encompass Project Management received a £200,000 fine and £50,000 in costs.
Groucott was also handed a seven and a half month suspended sentence, 200 hours community service and ordered to pay £7,500 in costs. He was spared a jail term because the judge acknowledged he was remorseful.
Lack of expertise
Annette Hall, of the Health and Safety Executive said: “Those sentenced failed the four workers who died. They didn’t carry out their legal duties, leading to the events which caused their deaths.
“This was a long-term, large-scale and complex civil engineering project which needed to be planned, designed, managed and monitored effectively.
“The tragedy here is that, in the months leading up to the accident, any one of these parties could and should have asked basic questions about building the structure safely.”
