Darma Limited has been fined £13,400 and ordered to pay £4,719 in costs after allowing employees to work on a site in dangerous conditions.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an unannounced inspection of a basement excavation site on Filmer Road in Fulham.

The inspection discovered workers were being made to work in and around four metre deep excavations which were not properly supported.

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The company had also failed to implement a safe systems of work, such as a temporary works engineer, competent site management or adequate shoring/propping of all excavations.

Darma admitted to a breach of Regulation 31(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

HSE Inspector Dominic Long said: "Conditions on this site were appalling with deep unsupported excavations throughout the basement. This not only put the large number of operatives in the basement at risk of death but could also have led to the collapse of the building itself.

"Darma Limited showed scant regard for the safety of the workers they were responsible for, it was extremely fortunate no-one was seriously injured or killed."

(LM)