A roadworker has died of his injuries after falling 12 metres while working over the M5 motorway near Cleveland. Cecil Grant was repairing CCTV cameras used to monitor one lane of the road during the night of 24 January 2006, when he fell off a wall into bushes below. He was taken to hospital, but died of his injuries ten days later.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Mr Grant's employers, Serco Ltd and principal contractor, Birse Civils Ltd, for failing to protect him when he was working at the site near Junction 20 Northbound, between Cleveland and Gordano. Bristol Crown Court heard Serco Ltd did not plan, manage and monitor the work properly, meaning Mr Grant was not warned about the drop. Both companies had also failed to co-operate with each other to make sure workers at the site were not put in danger.
HSE inspector Steve Frain said, "There were major failings in the way this work was planned which sadly resulted in Mr Grant's tragic death. When employees are working at height, proper plans must be put in place and workers made aware of the possible risks. In this case, Mr Grant had not been aware of the dangerous drop where he was working. If he had, the incident could easily have been avoided."
Serco Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations SI 2005/735 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations SI 1999/3242. They were fined a total of £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £36,186. Birse Civils Ltd, pleaded guilty to breaching the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regs SI 1999/3242. They were fined £100,000 with costs of £180,093.
