Gas company fined after car roll incident

Date:

19 November 2010

Release No:

COISE/19-11b

A gas transportation company has been fined £20,000 after a car flipped on its side when it hit a metal plate during road works.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Southern Gas Networks plc following the incident on the Isle of Wight.

During road works on Foreland Road, Bembridge on 2 April 2008, workers lifted a large metal road plate using an excavator ready to be moved later.

A car hit the plate flipping on its side, leaving the driver with severe bruising. The driver had to be cut from the car by the fire service following the incident and the car was written off.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 37(3) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 at a previous hearing.

An investigation by HSE found that the 2.5 metre-long plate, used to cover trenches in the road, had been raised six to eight inches from the ground, to make it easier to be collected later.

The investigation found that the road plate was protruding around two feet beyond a line of parked cars into oncoming traffic when the car hit it.

HSE Inspector Jane Beckmann said:

"The driver suffered severe bruising and longer lasting ill health effects as a result of this incident which could easily have been avoided.

"Southern Gas Networks had a duty to adequately protect road users when it moved the metal plate, and it failed to plan the work effectively. This meant that motorists were put in danger.

"All companies must remember that they have a responsibility to protect not only their own staff, but also members of the public when they carry out work."

Southern Gas Networks plc was also ordered to pay costs of £13,523.

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Regulation 37(3) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 state: "any vehicle being used for the purposes of construction work shall when being driven, operated or towed
   1. be driven, operated or towed in such a manner as is safe in the circumstances; and
   2. be loaded in such a way that it can be driven, operated or towed safely
3. For more information and advice about health and safety in the construction industry, view http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction

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