Work restarts after ‘near-miss’ incident pauses work on HS2’s London tunnels sites

Work has restarted on some HS2 tunnel sites in London which had been paused after a “near-miss incident” last month.

The incident occurred on 29 September during the disassembly of a gantry crane at the Green Park Way vent shaft in west London. 

As a result of the incident, Skanska Costain Strabag (SCS JV), the joint venture which is working as main works civils contractor across the HS2 London tunnels area, decided to halt work while it conducted an investigation and a review of safety and leadership across its 19 sites.

In light of this review, SCS JV began a phased restart across its sites earlier this week.

Additional safety measures have been put in place, including a focus on improved management of change, supervision and leadership engagement.

More sites will restart in due course, according to HS2.

A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd said: “Safety will always be our top priority which is why all works were halted on the London tunnels section of HS2 following a serious near-miss incident.

“We have now begun a safe, structured restart across some of these worksites following a comprehensive review of safety procedures and leadership. Additional measures are being implemented by our contractor, Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture, to ensure the safety of the workforce and we continue to closely monitor performance.”