A Kent construction company has been fined £8,000 with £8,797 costs, for unsafe excavation work at a building site in Rochester.

Concerns were raised about the Basi Construction development on Britannia Road, High Halstow, on 26 January 2012 after both Southern Water and Medway Council saw evidence that work was underway in a 3m deep excavation in soft clay that was unsupported.



Two plywood sheets and a single strut had been added when they returned to the site a day later, but it still posed a significant risk. 



It prompted an investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), which yesterday (19 February) prosecuted Basi Construction for failing to plan the excavation properly and for endangering workers by leaving unsupported sidewalls that were liable to collapse. 



Chatham Magistrates heard that the excavation had been made to connect a single new-build home to an existing sewer, with an agent employed by Southern Water visiting the site to check the connection.



An employee from the highways department at Medway Council visited separately in response to complaints about work in the footpath outside the site.

The employee notified HSE and described in detail what they had seen, including someone climbing from the excavation. Tools and equipment could also be seen at the bottom. 



The excavation had been backfilled by the time an HSE inspector arrived on site, but the witness evidence proved damning. 



The Magistrates were told that although there was no excavation collapse and nobody was hurt, workers could have been killed had the clay sidewalls given way. 



HSE also identified issues with poor welfare facilities at the site, including an inadequate mess area and a chemical toilet with no hot water for washing hands. 



Basi Construction Ltd, of Rochester, Kent, was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £8,797 in costs for a single breach of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007. 



After the hearing, HSE Inspector Melvyn Stancliffe said: 

“It was pure good luck that the excavation didn’t collapse. Had it done so anyone working at the bottom would have more than likely been killed before they could be rescued. 



“Before any excavation begins contractors must ask themselves: What will the consequences be if this fails? And what precautions do I therefore need to put in place to prevent that from happening?



“Sidewalls may look solid, but an unsupported wall will always collapse – and you need to work on the basis that it could give way in the next few seconds, not tomorrow or next week. 



“Proper planning is essential, as is the need to ensure that only competent personnel undertake excavation work, and that all work is closely supervised.

“Despite this particular excavation being backfilled when HSE arrived to inspect it, we were satisfied that Basi Construction failed in this regard and compromised safety as a result.”



For further information on safe working during excavations, click here.