The HSE has noted that every year, two or three children are killed after gaining access to construction sites and many more are injured. Last year, we wrote a blog regarding the prosecution following the tragic death of Conley Thompson, and recently, the HSE has issued a press release regarding the prosecution of a civil engineering contractor after the death of a 10-year-old boy that had accessed its site.

R.J McLeod was fined £800,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £60,000 after a 10-year-old, Shea Ryan, fell down a manhole on its site and sadly passed away.

Shea had been playing with his friends on the evening of 16 July 2020 and got onto the site, which was part of a surface water management project being carried out on behalf of a council. Once on the site, Shea entered a manhole and subsequently fell.  Despite efforts from emergency services and local residents who had raced to the scene to rescue him from the manhole, Shea sadly died from the injuries he had sustained.

The investigations carried out by the HSE found that insufficient measures had been taken to prevent children gaining access to the construction site and that R.J McLeod had failed to suitably and sufficiently assess the risk of people gaining access to the site. This had resulted in a failure to inspect and maintain suitable perimeter fencing and install other suitable security measures.

Under s3(1) Health and Safety at Work Act etc. 1974, organisations are under a duty to ensure so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of those affected by their operations. For those who own, manage and / or control construction sites, this duty extends to any member of the public who access the site, regardless as to whether this access is permitted.

Organisations should ensure that any works at sites are planned appropriately and that measures are taken to ensure risks to the public are mitigated so far as is reasonably practicable. This will include assessing information regarding the site in order to identify suitable and sufficient measures to exclude unauthorised access. In this case, the HSE stated that the nearby playpark increased the likelihood of children being attracted to the site and trying to access it, and that the security measures at the site should have accounted for this. The HSE provide helpful guidance on the management of construction sites and protecting the public, which can be found here.  

For assistance with health and safety matters, please contact Lorna Kenyon-Pain and Molly Quinney.