HSE | A renovation company in South Wales has been sentenced after defying enforcement notices from HSE.
Inspectors say Greenlife Property Developments Ltd failed to heed their warnings about the dangers posed to workers by a two-and-a-half metre deep excavation of the entire back garden of a house in Pit Place, Cwmbach, Aberdare.
The HSE inspection of the refurbishment works in September 2023 followed up on reports of unsafe construction work.
It found that:
- Employees were observed working within the excavation, which was approximately 2.5 metres deep.
- The sides of the excavation were vertical, leaving a risk of rubble subsiding or collapsing without warning.
- The site had not been secured to prevent unauthorised access.
There was no risk assessment for the refurbishment works and no safe system of work.
Craig Lewis, managing director at Greenlife Property Developments Ltd, was present on site at the time.
Following the inspection HSE served Greenlife Property Developments Ltd with a Prohibition Notice, requiring the firm to stop construction work within the excavation until it had corrected defects under a safe system of work. There was an immediate risk of serious injury to employees, working inside the excavation, including of burial from falling rubble.
Two Improvement Notices were also served, one requiring the company to secure the site, preventing unauthorised access, while the other ordered the firm to obtain advice on the risks to workers inside the excavation and implement a safe system of work.
A subsequent HSE investigation found Greenlife Property Developments Ltd breached the Prohibition Notice by continuing construction work inside the excavation. The company also failed to comply with one of the Improvement Notices as it did not obtain advice on the risks to workers inside the excavation and implement a safe system of work. Mr Lewis ignored repeated attempts by HSE to contact him in relation to the notices served and the conditions on site, and attempted to deceive HSE by providing false information in relation to the actions taking by the company to comply with the notices.
Greenlife Property Developments Ltd, of Gurnos Estate, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale, Gwent, Wales, was found guilty of breaching Section 33(1)(c) and two breaches of Section 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £5,812.57 in costs at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court on 20 January 2025.