HSE Press Release: E016:05 - 1 February 2005
Three defendants today received fines totalling £95,000, plus costs of £60,000, at Southwark Crown Court, London. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Lindsay Barr, David O’Keefe & Co. Ltd and Britin Construction Ltd, following an investigation into the death of Romanian worker Mr Ionit Simionica during refurbishment work at St Mary’s Church, Bryanston Square, London, W1.
On 26 February 2001 Mr Simionica, aged 22, was working in an excavation beneath a section of wall at St Mary’s Church. The refurbishment work included lowering the crypt floor, which required the foundations to be reformed below their existing level using underpinning. This involved excavating beneath the existing foundations in short sections and casting concrete “pins” underneath the wall. It was whilst working in such an excavation that a 1.5 tonne section fell onto Mr Simionica from the underside of an unsupported wall.
Following sentencing HSE Inspector Barry Mullen, who investigated the case, said:
“Whilst welcoming the verdict handed down by the court today, the fact remains that a young man died in an incident that could have easily been avoided, had appropriate and straight forward safety measures been in place.
“The untimely death of Mr Simionica came about through the failure to take appropriate action in relation to a potential risk in the underpinning work, that had been brought to the attention of both the structural engineer and the contractors. The possible risks should have been addressed by uncomplicated measures including a detailed structural investigation, suitable and sufficient risk assessments and adequate protective measures, such as propping of the foundations.”
The structural consultant engineer Lindsay Barr of Lindsay Barr Associates, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, was found guilty of breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSW Act) in that he failed to ensure that persons not in his employment were not exposed to risks to their health and safety. He was fined £45,000 and ordered to pay costs of £30,000 to HSE.
The principal contractor David O’Keefe & Co Ltd of Prince George’s Road, London, SW19 were fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £15,000 to HSE having been found guilty of charges of breaching:
Britin Construction Ltd of Aylesford, Kent, were fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £15,000 to HSE having been found guilty of the charges of breaching:
1. Section 2(1) of HSW Act states: ‘It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.’
2. Section 3(1) of HSW Act states: ‘It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.’
3. Section 3(2) of HSW Act states: ‘It shall be the duty of every self-employed person to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.’
4. Regulation 16(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 states: ‘The principal contractor appointed for any project shall take reasonable steps to ensure co-operation between all contractors (whether they are sharing the construction site for the purposes of regulation 11 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 19999 or otherwise) so far as is necessary to enable each of those contractors to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or under the relevant statutory provisions relating to the construction work.’
5. Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 states: ‘Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of our connection with the conduct by him of his undertaken.
6. Regulation 9(1) of the Construction (Health Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 states: ‘All practicable steps shall be taken, where necessary to prevent danger to any person, to ensure that any new or existing structure or any part of such structure which may become unstable or in a temporary state of weakness or instability due to the carrying out of construction work (including any excavation work) does not collapse accidentally.’
7. In the Crown Court the maximum penalty for a single offence is an unlimited fine.
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