Demolition firm fined £150,000 following worker death

Demolition contractor PC Richardson has been fined £100,000 following a fatal accident in which one of its workers was killed while working on nuclear decommissioning at the Sellafield site in Cumbria.

Meanwhile PC Richardson's client Sellafield Ltd was fined £150,000.

The penalties came after 36-year-old Richardson employee Neil Cannon was killed in January 2003 when he fell 95m while removing steelwork inside a pile chimney.

PC Richardson, based at Stokesley near Middlesborough, was found to have failed to ensure that its employees were not exposed to risks to their safety. The company was also ordered to pay £25,000.

Sellafield Ltd was also ordered to pay £50,500.

HSE principal inspector Mark Cottriall said: "This tragic accident need never have happened. A safe working method had been prepared for removing the steelwork in the chimney. If this had been followed, Mr Cannon would not have had to leave the safety of the working platform that had been built inside the chimney.

"As often happens on construction projects, however, the proposed method was changed as the work progressed. These changes took place over a period of time and resulted in workers, including Mr Cannon, having to work on an unprotected ledge inside the chimney approximately 95 metres above ground level.

"At the time of the accident, Mr Cannon was trying to remove a girder from the ledge. The girder tipped upwards, sliced through Mr Cannon's safety lanyard, and caused him to fall through the gap between the ledge and the working platform.

"Ongoing monitoring of the work in progress should have identified the changes and the increased risk. If this had been done it is almost certain that a way could have been found to do the work without leaving the safety of the platform."