A contractor has been given a six months prison sentence following the death of an employee after a trench collapsed…
Contractor William Ryan Evans, of Carmarthenshire was found guilty of breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 after an employee was killed while under his employment.
The case, brought before Swansea Magistrates’ Court, revealed how Evans was contracted to build a drainage field. The job involved laying infiltration pipes at the bottom of deep trenches.
Two workers were brought in to complete the work at the farm in Pembrokeshire, as well as a subcontractor to operate an excavator.
According to the investigation, 54-year-old Hywel Glyndwr Richards entered the trench “to remove a clump of soil” which had fallen into it. The trench then collapsed on top of Mr Richards, who sadly died at the scene.
An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Evans had not planned the work appropriately, nor had the workmen involved been trained properly. Furthermore, equipment to prevent a collapse was not provided.
As a result of these failings Evans was handed a six month custodial sentence as a result.
HSE Inspector Phil Nicolle said: “This tragic incident could have been prevented by undertaking a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks, providing the correct equipment or safe working methods and managing and monitoring the work to ensure it was done safely.
“Work in excavations needs to be properly planned, managed and monitored to ensure no one enters an excavation deeper than 1.2m without adequate controls in place to prevent a collapse.”