£500,000 FINE AFTER WORKER BURIED IN TWO METRE TRENCH

COMPANY bosses have been fined £550,000 after one of their workers was seriously injured when a trench collapsed and buried him.

The man suffered a broken pelvis and several broken ribs in the incident outside Stafford railway station.

He was placed in an induced coma and needed surgery. The employee remained in pain for years and was no longer able to work full-time.

Volkerrail Ltd, a railway infrastructure company, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act and was sentenced at Stoke-ontrent Crown Court.

The incident happened on July 6, 2014 when the worker was in a trench carrying out excavation work. At the time of the collapse, the excavation was approximately two metres deep and had been constructed without any support to the sides.

Following the case, Office of Rail and Road ORR chief inspector of railways Ian Prosser said: “They had opportunities to correct working practices and make the works safer, but these were missed.”