Work in haste, repent at leisure

HBG Construction Southern Limited of Merit House, Edgware Road, Colindale, north-west London, formerly known as Kyle Stewart (1989) Limited, was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £47,000, following an incident on a building site at 33 Old Broad Street, London EC2 on 21 February 1997.

The prosecution at Southwark Crown Court followed an investigation initially by the City of London Police and then by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

How it happened
Osman Kamara, an agency labourer, died after being struck on the head by a 190kg concrete lintel. Part of the building work involved the construction of a new electrical sub-station in the basement, during which attempts were made to lift the concrete lintel into position to form an opening for a ventilation panel in one of the exterior brick built walls.

At the time of the accident, construction of the sub-station was behind schedule.

Dominic Akyeampong, another agency labourer working with Kamara, suffered bruising to his arm. Both were part of a five-man team attempting manually to lift the lintel into position when the bandstand platform they were using collapsed.

As the lintel fell to the ground, it struck Kamara on the head and Akyeampong on his arm. Kamara was taken to the Royal London Hospital, but died a few days later.

HBG then pleaded guilty to a contravention of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc., Act 1974, in that they failed to ensure that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risks to their safety.

this avoidable incident shows what can go wrong when planning and supervision are poor

Neil Stephens, HSE

HM principal inspector of Health and Safety Neil Stephens said after the case: "This sad incident was entirely avoidable and is an example of what can go wrong when planning and supervision is poor and tight deadlines are involved.

"The risks of manually placing a 190kg lintel above head height should have been obvious to any properly trained supervisor or manager on site."

Furthermore, the HSE expert who advised on the case concluded that: "Even if they [the men] were the strongest, fittest and best trained individuals, it is my opinion that a risk assessment would have indicated that this should have been avoided at all costs."

A Series of failures
Neil Stephens added that: "Following the accident, a much lighter lintel weighing, I believe, under one fifth of the original, was used to complete the opening in the wall.

"Every year, one third of all construction industry accidents reported to HSE involve manual handling. The risk of injury from manual handling is well known in the industry; as are the measures needed to manage them."

Judge Loraine-Smith said in passing sentence: "HBG Construction Southern Ltd was gravely at fault for this accident.