Alfred McAlpine fined £250,000 after roadworks death

Alfred McAlpine Capital Projects has been handed a £250,000 fine following the death of a motorcyclist at one of its roadworks sites in 2005.

The motorcyclist died when he collided with temporary concrete crash barriers that had been laid in a line across the former A228 old Ratcliffe Highway in near Hoo on the Isle of Grain, Kent.

It later emerged that 'Road Closed' signs and traffic cones to warn drivers of the closure had been missing for more than eight weeks, despite the contractor working in the area almost every day.

McAlpine had previously pleaded guilty breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, for failing to ensure proper planning, inspection and maintenance programmes on the roads job.

It was fined £250,000 and ordered to pay £5,859 costs at Maidston Crown Court today.

Commenting after the successful prosecution, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector John Underwood said: "The temporary traffic management system should have been checked at least once a day but this was never done properly. The barriers were only 450mm high and from a distance they could have been mistaken for a shadow or a change in the colour of the tarmac.

"It is clear that the motorcyclist braked hard and tried to avoid the barrier but could not stop in time."

The old single carriageway A228 was being downgraded to a local through-road after McAlpine built a new dual carriageway next to it. 'Road Closed' signs and traffic cones were originally placed along the route but by June 2005 they had disappeared and were not replaced.