Contractors working on Crossrail have been fined more than £1m over the death of a worker and two other incidents.
A joint venture of three companies, Bam, Ferrovial and Kier (BFK), pleaded guilty to three offences following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Southwark Crown Court heard Rene Tkacik, 43, from Slovakia, died after being crushed by falling wet concrete in March 2014.
Two other men were injured in separate incidents within six days of one another in January 2015.
On 16 January 2015 Terence ‘Ian’ Hughes was struck by a reversing excavator, suffering severe fractures to his right leg and injuring his left knee and shin.
Six days later Alex Vizitiu, who was part of a team spraying liquid concrete lining, was helping with the cleaning of the pipes that supply the concrete when one of the lines became disconnected and he was hit by pressurised water and concrete debris.
He suffered head and hip injuries as well as a broken finger and was in hospital for six days.
All three incidents took place in the tunnels around the Fisher Street area of central London.
In relation to the death of Mr Tkacik, BFK was fined £300,000.
It was fined a further £600,000 for the incident involving Mr Hughes, and £165,000 for the incident relating to Mr Vizitiu.
On top of the fine totalling £1,065,000, the consortium was ordered to pay costs of £42,337.28.
HSE head of operations Annette Hall said: “The omission to implement exclusion zones in a high-hazard environment was a consistent failure in this case.
“Had simple measures such as these been taken, all three incidents could have been prevented, and Rene Tkacik may not have died.
“We believe every person should be healthy and safe at work. Here, all three workers were taking part in one of the most important and challenging infrastructure projects of the decade.
“It was this joint venture’s duty to protect its dedicated and highly skilled workforce. On these three occasions, BFK failed in its duty, with tragic consequences for Rene Tkacik and his family.”
Source: Sky