New analysis of fines under new penalties regime.
Balfour Beatty has received £3.5m in health and safety fines since February – nearly half of all fines in the sector, according to new analysis by leading legal firm BLM.
Construction companies as a whole have been hit with almost £8m in health & safety fines since new penalties came into force at the start of the year in which fines are proportional to turnover. BLM has been monitoring sentences issued by the UK courts, and found that out of 101 health and safety fines issued, 38% affected those in the construction sector.
The three highest fines alone totalled £5.6m, all of which involved fatalities of either staff or customers. Directors of two construction companies were also given custodial sentences. One was given six years after being found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter, the other was sentenced to six months after one of his employees was killed on site.
The analysis comes as new figures from the HSE showed a sharp increase in deaths on construction sites. The number of deaths in construction increased to 43 during the year from April 2015-16 compared to 35 previously. The death rate dropped slightly to 1.94 per 100,000 workers, compared to a five-year average of 2.04.
Provisional statistics from the Health and Safety Executive reveal construction fatalities remained at the five-year average. The HSE statistics show 144 people were killed at work across all industries.
Among the companies that have been fined are Balfour Beatty, Travis Perkins and Falcon Cranes. Balfour Beatty took the biggest hit, being fined a total of £3.6m for two incidents where workers were killed, while Travis Perkins was fined £2m for an incident where a customer died after being crushed by company vehicle in company’s yard.
Falcon Cranes was fined £750,000 plus costs when an employee died after falling from a crane as it collapsed and a member of the public was also killed.
The legal costs involved were also found to be substantial for all cases, with the biggest three fines resulting in almost £185,000 in prosecution costs for the companies involved. Altogether, the prosecution costs associated with fines to UK construction companies since February have reached over £530,000.
Helen Devery, partner and head of SHE practice at BLM, said: “These new guidelines have been a real game changer. Fines are now proportional to the size of the company, meaning that both small and large businesses will feel the same impact.
“It is expected that fines will remain high for larger firms that are charged with serious offences so businesses need to work harder than ever to avoid incidents and the subsequent negative impact on their people, productivity and profits.”
Image: Katarzyna Bialasiewicz/Dreamstime.com
BLM H&S sentencing tracker June 2016
Date |
Fine |
Company |
Overview |
5/5 |
£2.6m |
Balfour Beatty |
Company fined after worker fatally crushed in trench |
29/4 |
£2m |
Travis Perkins |
Customer killed by company vehicle in yard at Milton Keynes |
25/01 |
£1m |
Balfour Beatty |
Worker killed while repairing central reservation |
15/03 |
£750k |
Falcon Crane Hire |
Crane operator killed after crane collapse and member of public also killed |
11/04 |
£400k |
Building and Dismantling Contractors |
Worker suffered fatal head injury after falling through skylight, another worker injured falling through skylight. Director jailed for gross negligence manslaughter |
24/4 |
£280k |
Sandvik Construction Mobile Crushers & Screens |
Employees suffer carpal tunnel syndrome and HAVS |
5/4 |
£160k |
MJ Allen Holdings |
Fine for unsafe work practices after worker almost falls through a roof |
13/4 |
£135k |
Severfield (UK) |
Forklift truck operator killed |
8/4 |
£66k |
AES (Roofing Contractors) |
Worker suffers broken wrist falling through skylight |
5/5 |
£40k |
Mead Construction (Cambridge) |
Worker injured when skip loader overturned |
22/4 |
£40k |
Altin Homes |
Block collapse and multiple unsafe working practices |
13/4 |
£40k |
RS Construction (London) |
Safety failings |
3/2 |
£36k |
Ideal Glazing (Euro) |
Dangerous window installation 8m above London street |
25/2 |
£30k |
Natural Insulation |
Health and safety failings |
19/5 |
£20k |
Parsons and Joyce Contractors |
Worker injured falling 3m from ledge of building |
1/4 |
£20k |
Fewell Engineering |
Worker injured by mobile elevating platform |
31/3 |
£20k |
David Ashley Construction |
Worker falls 13m down service shaft |
1/4 |
£20k |
Longcross Construction |
Worker injured by mobile elevating platform |
23/2 |
£14k |
Strom Roofing Services |
Worker falls through skylight and suffers three cracked vertebrae |
17/2 |
£13,333 |
William Fry Fabrications |
Fined for failure to comply with improvement notices |
25/4 |
£12k |
Sandvik Mining and Construction |
Employees suffer carpal tunnel syndrome and HAVS |
27/4 |
£10k |
Mitchell Roofing |
Worker fractures skull in fall from height |
24/2 |
£8k |
R A Winwood |
Worker falls through window causing multiple fractures |
19/5 |
£6k |
GFT Frames |
Worker injured falling 3m from ledge of building |
28/4 |
£6k |
Prodem Demolition and Asbestos |
Safety failings |
13/4 |
£5k |
24 Hour Maintenance Services |
Two companies fined for disturbing asbestos |
13/4 |
£1020 |
Firestone Estates |
Fined for disturbing asbestos |
6/5 |
£1k |
OW Scaffolding |
Safety failings |
Is this an indication that the CDM Regs 2015 are not having the desired effect, or is it simply that a new regime of penalties have magnified the less desirable results?
Financial penalties may not have the desired effect as the fines may have been paid by the companies and thus borne by the shareholders though they are not a party to the safety violations.
For the desired deterrent effect it may be necessary to impose prison terms on the Directors/S.Managers and professionals who may be responsible for the safety violations.
Both the penalties should be imposed as fines generally only increase the coffers of the Authorities.