Costain fined £200k after death of worker

by Tim Wood

Costain has been fined £200,000 following the death of an employee of one of its subcontractors at a Bridgend construction site nearly two years ago.

Paul Davis, 31, of Abedare Construction, which had been subcontracted by the main contractor, died when he became trapped between a wall and a 13t hydraulic excavator while working on a sewer overflow scheme at the Lynfi Valley site in October 1999.

Costain was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court last Friday after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It must also pay £12,400 costs.

The Health & Safety Executive said "the fine reflects the gravity of the offence".

In response, a Costain spokesman said: "We accept the ruling of the court."

In a separate case, builders' merchant English Brothers has been convicted of causing the death of gang-foreman Bill Larkman.

The firm was fined £30,000 after pleading guilty to separate charges of corporate manslaughter and breaking health and safety law.

Larkman, 48, from Kings Lynn, fell 8m through fragile insulation material while constructing an onion store at a farm in Newton, Cambridgeshire, in June 1999.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the same charges against English Brothers director Melvyn Hubbard - a move which the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) called "extraordinary".

"One minute the CPS considers there is sufficient evidence to prosecute Hubbard, then, simply because the company has pleaded guilty, it drops both charges against him," said CCA director David Bergman. English Brothers refused to comment.