A construction worker sustained a broken leg when an industrial hose, which was being used in a tunnelling project in central London, broke free from its restraint and struck him.
The whiplash incident, which occurred beneath the Dorchester Hotel on 27 February 2010, resulted in an HSE investigation and subsequent prosecution of international civil-engineering firm, Joseph Gallagher Ltd.
Westminster magistrates heard that 48-year-old Adrian Murray, who lives in Ireland, was one of a small group of night-shift workers spraying concrete on a three-metre-diameter service tunnel, which stretched between the hotel and 45 Park Lane.
Concrete was sent down steel pipes, via a connector device, to a flexible hose with a nozzle attached, enabling operatives to spray the tunnel’s surface. When the shift ended, they cleaned the pipes by using compressed air to shoot a foam ball and water down to the nozzle. The hose was secured with a restraining rope and suspended over a skip to catch the waste.
When the skip was full, the hose was moved for one final clean, with any residual waste expelled to the ground. The foam ball jammed at the connector, prompting one worker to rap it with a spanner to free the blockage. However, the build-up of the compressed air forced the hose free from the rope and it whiplashed, hitting Mr Murray.
The HSE’s investigation found that Joseph Gallagher Ltd had a large number of risk assessments and method statements but had omitted to assess the risks involved in the cleaning of concrete pipes and use of compressed air, thereby failing to implement a safe system of work.
HSE inspector Pete Collingwood told SHP that the hose should have been secured more tightly to avoid the risk of it breaking free. Following the incident, the firm secured it by a chain and implemented an exclusion zone. The blockage should have been addressed by informing the pump operator to reduce the pressure in the hose.
Sitting on 8 May, Westminster magistrates fined Joseph Gallagher Ltd £6000 and told it to pay £4406 in costs, after the company admitted a breach of s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. The firm mitigated by referring to its wealth of risk assessments and method statements — 37 in total — for other related work activities, but accepted there had been an oversight on this particular task.
Said inspector Collingwood: “Joseph Gallagher Ltd failed in its obligation to employees to identify the risks of the job they do, and then provide a safe way for them to carry it out. As a result, Mr Murray has suffered a severe leg injury and has been unable to return to work since.
“The case highlights the importance of producing a risk assessment and associated safe system of work for every dangerous activity. If this task had been properly planned and communicated to those at the sharp end on site, it could have easily been prevented.”
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