黑洞社区

Crossrail contractor consortium BFK (Bam, Ferrovial and Kier) has been fined more than 拢1m at Southwark Crown Court today, over the death of a worker and injuries to two others working on the major government project.

Ren猫 Tk谩膷ik, 43, was killed by a falling slab of concrete whilst spraying concrete through a hose at Crossrail鈥檚 Fisher Street site in Holborn on 7 March 2014. 

Less than a year later, two other workers suffered serious injuries working in a nearby section of the tunnel. 

On 16 January 2015 Terence 鈥業an鈥� Hughes was working between the Bond Street and Paddington section of the tunnel when he was crushed by a tipper truck, suffering severe leg injuries.

Just days later, on 22 January 2015, Alex Vizitiu was working in the same stretch of the tunnel when he suffered head and hip injuries after being hit by a high pressure mixture of water and concrete during a routine operation to clean concrete lines.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found a failure to provide a safe system of work relating to the operations Mr Tk谩膷ik and Mr Vizitiu were working on. It was also found there was a failure to properly maintain the excavator which reversed into Mr Hughes. In all cases, there was a failure to properly enforce exclusion zones that would have helped protect workers from foreseeable harm, according to the HSE.

BFK pleaded guilty to three offences and was fined 拢1,065,000 in total and ordered to pay costs of 拢42,337.28. In relation to the death of Mr Tk谩膷ik, it admitted to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined 拢300,000. In relation to the two workers who suffered serious injuries, BFK breached the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. It was fined 拢600,000 for the incident involving Mr Hughes and 拢165,000 for the incident relating to Mr Vizitiu.

Annette Hall, HSE head of operations, commented: 鈥淭he omission to implement exclusion zones in a high hazard environment was a consistent failure in this case. Had simple measures such as these been taken, all three incidents could have been prevented, and Ren猫 Tk谩膷ik may not have died.鈥�

She added: 鈥淲e believe every person should be healthy and safe at work. Here, all three workers were taking part in one of the most important and challenging infrastructure projects of the decade. It was this joint venture鈥檚 duty to protect its dedicated and highly-skilled workforce. On these three occasions, BFK failed in its duty, with tragic consequences for Ren猫 Tk谩膷ik and his family.鈥�

In a statement, BFK said: 鈥淏FK acknowledges and accepts the sentencing decision of the Court and is fully committed to achieving high standards of health and safety. It is with deep regret that these incidents ever occurred and BFK will continue to strive to achieve a working environment free from incident. We wish to convey our sincerest sympathies to all the families, friends and colleagues of the individuals involved.鈥� 

Unite union national officer Jerry Swain, said: 鈥淭he industry needs to learn the lessons from this tragedy, especially on major infrastructure projects. These projects often include potentially dangerous work but if proper procedures are put in place and workers are fully engaged in safe ways of working, deaths and injuries can be avoided.鈥�

Crossrail programme director Simon Wright said: 鈥淲e are aware of the Health and Safety Executive鈥檚 successful prosecution of Bam Ferrovial Kier Joint Venture.

鈥淓veryone who works on Crossrail has been affected by the death of Rene Tkacik in March 2014. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Rene鈥檚 family, friends and colleagues.

鈥淪afety has always been, and continues to be, the number one value for Crossrail and is critical to the successful delivery of the project.

鈥淐rossrail has a good safety record and sets the most stringent contractor safety requirements in the industry. Our contractors know what we expect of them and what is needed to be done to achieve this. There is nothing so important on Crossrail that it cannot be done safely.鈥�