Construction Site Safety

Employers have been warned by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that proper safety procedures must be in place for staff on construction sites.

The warning comes after PC Harrington Contractors Ltd was prosecuted following the death of one employee and serious injury of another on a Wembley Stadium construction site.

The London-based construction firm pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to a breach of Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £150,000, with full costs of £25,203.

The investigation followed an incident on January 15, 2004, when a platform fell and hit two workers after becoming dislodged during a lifting operation.

Patrick O'Sullivan died in the incident - which also seriously injured another man. Both men had been building the stadium's concrete superstructure.

Giles Meredith, HSE inspector, said: "There were many thousands of crane movements at Wembley. This incident demonstrates that when things do go wrong during lifting operations, the outcome is often very serious. Our thoughts remain with the family of Patrick O'Sullivan who live with the consequences of this tragic event."

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David Urpeth from law firm Irwin Mitchell said: “I would echo the warning from the Health and Safety Executive following this serious and tragic work accident.

“Falls from height or injury/death caused by falling objects remains a major category of accidents at work.  The construction industry is the industrial sector where a worker is more likely to lose his life in a work accident.  As such, I would urge employers to redouble their efforts to make construction site safer.”