For construction of a luxury five bedroom mansion on Trafford Road in Alderley Edge, Huntsmere Projects Ltd excavated a large pit and then put men to work inside it with no structural support to the sides of the pit. The pit was approximately 20 metres wide and more than five metres deep.
After a surprise visit from the Health & Safety Executive on 19 August 2010, Huntsmere Projects was issued with an immediate prohibition notice, ordering workers to leave the excavation for the foundations until the site had been made safe.
Yesterday the company was up before Macclesfield magistrates, where it pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 31(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 by failing to prevent workers being put in danger.
The court was told that the workers were put at risk of being buried, trapped, crushed or struck by rock if part of the excavation collapsed. Well established health and safety measures had not been implemented, despite the company having received previous guidance from HSE and its own advisers.
Structural support was not provided to the sides of the excavation pit, which were partly made of soft, sandy clay, and the sides had not been sufficiently battered back to a safe angle.
A large heap of soil had also been placed close to the edge of the pit and excavator track marks showed a digger had been driven along the rim of the excavation, increasing the risk of it collapsing. No barriers or fencing had been erected to keep vehicles away from the edge, or prevent workers being injured in a fall.
Huntsmere Projects Ltd of Elizabeth Street in Macclesfield, which describes itself on its website as ‘visionary and forward-thinking’ was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £3,837 in prosecution costs.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Catherine Willars said: "The lives of the people working on this project were put in danger due to the very real risk of the excavation collapsing.
"Huntsmere Projects controlled the site and all the work being carried out on it, but the company failed to implement the necessary safety measures and ignored its own procedures for making excavations safe.
"This prosecution should alert the construction industry to the risk of legal action where health and safety on a site falls way below acceptable standards."
Huntsmere’s houses sell for several million pounds, as can be seen from these images of its developments, below. The company is owned by Chris Oakes, a former barrister who, according to his Linked In profile specialised in personal injury, general contract and building disputes.
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