Chelmsford Crown Court heard how R. W. Hill (Felixstowe) Limited was employed as the main contractor working to replace the Berth 7 roadway at the Trinity Terminal of the port and had sub-contracted a specialist concrete pumping contractor to pump the concrete and a concrete laying contractor to lay the concrete.
On 7 August 2015, a flexible delivery hose through which concrete was being pumped became momentarily blocked, then cleared under pressure, causing it to violently whip round. Garry Louis, an employee of the concrete laying sub-contractor was killed, and another worker suffered cuts and bruising.
The HSE’s investigation found that R. W. Hill (Felixstowe) Limited:
R.W.Hill (Felixstowe) Limited of Lodge Lane, Grays, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 15(2) and 15(8) of the Construction, (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and was fined £15,000 with costs of £13,883.60.
HSE inspector Glyn Davies said: “This tragic incident could easily have been prevented had the company involved acted to identify and manage the well-documented risks involved in concrete pumping by the implementation of suitable safe systems of work.
“As this case sadly demonstrates, poorly managed concrete pumping operations can and do kill construction workers when industry safety guidance is not followed. HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”
