Three contractors pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act on Emirates Stadium build

Three construction firms have been fined a total of 拢54,000 after a worker helping build Arsenal鈥檚 Emirates Stadium had his leg crushed by a dumper truck.

Michael O鈥橠onovan, 41, from Bromley, was run over while kneeling down to clean steel 鈥榮huttering鈥� used to form reinforced structures and pillars.

The incident happened on 30 June 2005 while work was underway on the stadium, then known as Ashburton Grove.

O鈥橠onovan suffered such severe injuries that his leg had to be amputated above the knee, and his pelvis was also fractured.

Main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine and subcontractors McNicholas (now Skanska Utilities) and Maylim were all prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) over the incident.

London Magistrates鈥� Court heard the HSE investigation showed all three companies had failed to ensure vehicles and pedestrians were properly segregated on site.

It also found the cleaning of shuttering was neither properly planned nor carried out safely.

Following the hearing, HSE inspector Loraine Charles said: 鈥淭raffic needs to be managed effectively on all construction sites. Had proper controls been in place, this appalling incident would never have happened. As it is, Michael O鈥橠onovan has suffered a severe injury and his life has been changed for ever.

鈥淎t construction sites, workers and vehicles need to be separated wherever reasonably practicable. There was no demarcation between the route the dumper took and areas where people could work or were working on this site.

鈥淣one of these three companies had carried out a meaningful assessment of the risk to workers of being struck by plant in general and the dumper in particular.鈥�

Sir Robert McAlpine admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined 拢19,000 and ordered to pay costs of 拢10,000.

Sub-contractor Skanska Utilities admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined 拢17,000 and ordered to pay costs of 拢10,000.

Maylim, of Evans Avenue, Watford - sub-contracted by McNicholas to undertake the work on the South Bridge area of the site - pleaded guilty to the same breach and was fined 拢18,000 and ordered to pay costs of 拢10,000.

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