The incident happened on 27th July 2021, at a site in Copthall North near Uxbridge, West London. The site was being run by SCS Railways, a venture set up by three major construction companies – Skanska Construction UK Limited, Costain Limited and Strabag AG.
The tipper truck fell approximately two metres and landed on the driver’s side. The man behind the wheel suffered a broken nose, cut hand, and a shoulder injury.
Inspectors from the HSE visited the site after the incident and found that there were no signs on the haulage routes being used. They also identified that there was no edge protection in place to prevent vehicles going over the edge of the ramp, and that excavations adjacent to some of the vehicle routes had unsupported, vertical faces which were at risk of collapse.
The incident occurred in an area where SCS Railways was building a ‘cut and cover tunnel’. These are shallow tunnels built on the surface before being buried, with trees, plants, and shrubs planted on top. Material from the excavation was to be reused, removing the need for it to be taken off site.
SCS Railways had contracted another company – ACE Grab Hire and Haulage Limited (ACE) – to transport excavation material via 20-tonne tipper trucks to an area under the control of another joint venture working on HS2, Align JV. ACE drivers had been operating at the site for about two weeks by the time the incident occurred.
The subsequent HSE investigation found that on the morning of the incident, the SCS earthworks team changed their working area after an Align JV representative found the original material could not be used. This meant moving the excavator’s loading position and creating a new traffic route – but the change inadvertently left an unprotected edge on the bank above.
When the first ACE tipper truck driver used the higher-level bank instead of the intended new route, his vehicle slipped on the ramp. The next ACE driver followed the same path – and his vehicle veered off the edge of the bank.
SCS Railways, of 1 Hercules Way, Leavesden, Watford, pleaded guilty to contravening section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,974.
HSE Inspector Gordon Carson said, “SCS had detailed procedures in place for much of the work at the site, including temporary works schemes for excavations. However, its failure to properly plan and promptly communicate changes in vehicle routes created unsafe conditions for the drivers of tipper trucks. The consequences of this could have been even more serious than they were for the driver involved in this incident.”
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