Firm and director fined £18,000 after worker buried during excavation

A company and its director have been fined £18,000 after a man was injured when a wall collapse led to him bing buried during excavation work in West Sussex.

JHE Construction and its director Jordan Hay-Ellis pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws following the incident on 23 February 2023, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said.

The company had been contracted to complete a barn conversion, which included the installation of a new septic tank.

During the installation of the tank, workers had to dig a three metre deep excavation but no precautions were taken to prevent its collapse, the HSE said last week in a statement.

Edward Keeley, 30, and two colleagues were in the hole preparing to install a concrete base for the septic tank at Lone Oak Farm when the walls collapsed on them, the health and safety watchdog added.

Keeley was struck by falling soil which resulted in multiple bone fractures and required him to be dug out, the HSE said.

An HSE investigation found that no precautions had been taken to prevent the collapse of the excavation, “yet the men were expected to work in it”.

HSE inspector Nathan Kent said: “The risk associated with excavation collapse is well understood within the construction industry and this incident was easily foreseeable.

“All excavation work should be supported or battered back. Failure to do so in this case resulted in a young man sustaining very serious injuries.

“HSE will not hesitate to take action against companies which do not do all they can to keep people safe.”

HSE guidance advises that all work of this nature should be correctly planned, including whether any temporary support structures should be used.

This may also include battering the excavation sides to make it safer.

Both JHE Construction Ltd and Hay-Ellis, 33, of Icarus Avenue, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to breaching the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, the HSE said.

The firm was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay £2,612 in costs at Brighton Magistrates Court on 24 March.

Hay-Ellis was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs.