Kier hit with £4.4m safety fine

Kier has been fined £4.4m for two incidents in which workers hit overhead power lines while upgrading the M6 in Cheshire.

The safety breaches took place in March 2018 and January 2019, as Kier was carrying out smart-motorways work valued at £475m for Highways England.

According to a statement from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), workers first hit overhead power lines while clearing tarmac from the hard shoulder on a night shift while loading a truck with a digger. The truck struck and severed an 11-kilovolt overhead power line, which landed in the motorway and in a nearby field.

The firm did not immediately tell Scottish Power about the accident, meaning that the cable was re-energised on a number of occasions while lying on the motorway next to live traffic, the HSE said.

Its investigators found that Kier had used an “unsuitable” vehicle to carry out the work, even though it had suitable vehicles available. The contractor also failed to carry out a task-specific risk assessment for the work.

In the second incident, a Kier team was taking down a motorway barrier with a crane, which struck an overhead cable. That cable was then hit and snapped by an oncoming vehicle.

The HSE found that on the second occasion, the workers were unaware of the presence of the overhead hazards.

In relation to the first incident, Kier Infrastructure and Overseas Limited, of Clippers Quay, Salford, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The firm also pleaded guilty to the second incident, for which it was charged with breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.

On top of the £4.4m fine it will have to pay, Kier was ordered to pay costs of £80,760 by a judge at Manchester Crown Court.

The fine is among the highest ever received by a contractor for a health and safety breach. A legal change that came into force in 2016 allowed companies with turnover of more than £50m to face much larger penalties than previously.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Mike Lisle said this amounted to a “significant fine reflecting the seriousness of the failures here”.

“The company’s failure to plan the work properly and provide an adequate risk assessment put its workers and those using the motorway in significant danger,” he added.

Kier has been contacted for comment.