Property Developer Violates Health and Safety Regulation
A property developer has been prosecuted for putting lives at risk. The developer of luxury homes put employees at risk due to work conducted at an unsupported excavation area. The property developer is from the Cheshire area and is being sentenced for allowing workers to be put in risky situations.
HSE health and safety audits determined that the developers allowed workers to be at risk on a five bedroom mansion. The incident was found in 2010. Two workers were ordered from the site after the inspections found the foundations unsafe. The foundations were 20 metres wide and five metres deep, but the area was not safe at the time. The HSE wanted safety measures to be put in place before the workers could come back. They also gave notice to the developer.
Workers could have been buried alive, trapped, crushed, or worse due to the health and safety breaches at the site. The company had received guidance and training prior to the 2010 incident. The HSE had issued notices and training after seeing unsupported excavated areas and other issues at the developer’s sites.
It was only a matter of time before an incident would have occurred according to the HSE. The company has received news that they will be fined £3,800 and other additional costs for the serious breaches. The company will need to change if they wish to stay out of court and in business given that this was not the first time.
