A Kent based property company and its groundwork subcontractor have been prosecuted for unsafe excavation work.

Churchill Properties (Southern) Limited was prosecuted by the HSE for failing to plan, manage and monitor the excavation work being carried out on its construction site. The subcontractor, Moseley Green Services Limited was also prosecuted for failing to take all practicable steps to ensure that the excavation work did not put workers in danger from the excavation collapsing.

Staines Magistrates' Court heard an HSE inspector visited Leys Road Oxshott, in Surrey on 19 May 2010 and found construction work underway to the retaining basement walls of two new houses. Churchill Properties was commissioned as the principal contractor for the site; Moseley Green Services was subcontracted to build the foundations.

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The HSE Inspector found there was a significant risk of the excavation collapsing, or materials from the excavation walls falling and injuring workers. A Prohibition Notice was served by the Inspector to stop work on the site. An Improvement Notice was served a week later to ensure that future construction work was adequately planned, managed and monitored.

The court heard Churchill Properties has had previous enforcement action taken against it on other safety matters due to failings on its behalf at another site.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Denis Bodger said: "Every year people are seriously injured or killed while working in excavations, many of these are due to trench collapses or falling materials. Fortunately in this instance, work was stopped before anyone was hurt.

"Principal contractors should properly manage and monitor the work that goes on at their sites. All excavation work should be planned and carried out under the directions of a competent supervisor. Workers should be given clear instructions.

"Excavations should be created at safe angles and properly supported, otherwise there is a serious risk of collapse."

Churchill Properties (Southern) Ltd, Chartwell Farm, Mapleton Road, Westerham, Kent, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. The company was fined £2,800 and ordered to pay costs of £2,917.

Moseley Green Services Ltd, of Woolmer Way, Whitehill, Bordon Hampshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 31 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. The company was fined £2,800 and ordered to pay costs of £2,917.

(CD)