Two companies have been fined after serious safety breaches were found on a basement construction project in London.

Lifehouse (London) Ltd of 28 Church Road, Stanmore, HA7 4XR pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM). It was fined £24,000 with over £1,141 in costs.

Nu Space (Design) Ltd of 39 Wimborne Avenue, Hayes, UB4 0HQ pleaded guilty to breaching CDM Regulation 15(2). It was fined £20,000 with over £1,067 in costs.

Westminster Magistrates Court heard how principal contractor Lifehouse had appointed Nu Space Design as the contractor to carry out the excavation work at Bathurst Mews, along with one of its directors as the site manager.

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However, emergency services were called to the property and rescued a labourer with a broken arm. They also reported concerns about the dangerous site to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

An inspection by HSE discovered that despite the incident, workers were at risk from falling into deep excavations and there were no propping arrangements to ensure the stability of excavations or the existing building. Following the inspection, the inspector shut down the site immediately. The investigation also found that an independent consultant had raised the same concerns a few months previously, but the recommendations had been ignored.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers said: "Both companies were aware of the dangers on the site following the warnings in a consultant's report, but they failed to act on the recommendations and a worker was injured.

"When carrying out any construction work, whether new build or refurbishments you have to ensure it is done safely. In this case they should have appointed a competent person to carry out regular inspections of the excavations to ensure they did not collapse onto workers or cause the building to become unstable during the work."

(LM/MH)