London Underground and Balfour Beatty fined for worker injuries

London Underground Limited and Balfour Beatty Rail were fined a total of £433,000 on December 3, after pleading guilty to breaking health and safety laws which led to a worker suffering life-changing injuries.

In an incident on June 4 2016, Adrian Rascarache suffered serious injuries to his pelvis after his lower body was crushed between a roadrail vehicle and the platform edge of Whitechapel station.

In a prosecution brought by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how the ORR’s investigation found that despite both parties being aware of the risks posed by allowing workers to guide road-rail vehicles by walking along the track in front of the machine, there was no system of work put in place that night to address the risk.

The investigation also found that a decision had been taken not to adopt a procedure called ‘send and receive’, which eliminated the need for people to walk between machines as it was considered a slower method of working.

On the night of the incident, the ORR also found that workers were not given the required safety briefings before starting their shift, as the signing in procedure had deliberately been bypassed.

HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser said: “Today’s sentences send a clear message that the health and safety of workers must not be compromised. In this instance, corners were cut as a response to perceived time pressure. This is unacceptable and resulted in the terrible injuries suffered by Mr Rascarache.

“The safety of workers is an absolute priority for the ORR, and we will take appropriate action against organisations or individuals when failings are found.”