Road re-surfacer fined £1m after employee killed by road sweeper

Robert Morris, 48, was working on the resurfacing of Pemberton Road in Haringey for Marlborough Highways Limited on 30 May 2022. A colleague was at the wheel of the vehicle and Robert was struck while it was reversing.

A joint investigation was launched between the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Metropolitan Police. The police submitted evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) leading to a separate prosecution, which resulted in the driver being given a suspended prison sentence.

The HSE investigation identified a number of failings. There was no segregation between people and moving vehicles on site and a banksman was not used when the road sweeper reversed and struck Mr Morris. The traffic management systems in place at the site were inadequate and unsafe, placing employees and members of the public at risk of serious injury and death.

The majority of construction transport accidents result from the inadequate segregation of pedestrians and vehicles. This can usually be avoided by careful planning, particularly at the design stage, and by controlling vehicle operations during construction work.

Marlborough Highways Limited of Chelmsford Garden, Chelmsford pleaded guilty to Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at the first opportunity. The company was fined £1million, with full costs of £6,028, at City of London Magistrates’ Court on 3 October.

In the separate CPS case, Jamie Smith, 46, from Essex, who was also an employee of the company, was prosecuted for an offence of causing death by careless driving contrary to section 2B of the Road Traffic Act 1988. He pleaded guilty and in February 2024, at Wood Green Crown Court, he was sentenced to a six-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years, and disqualified from driving for one year.

HSE principal inspector James Goldfinch said: “Our thoughts are with Robert’s family, described by his widow as ‘the centre of our world’. She says his children are ‘sad and angry and cheated of so much of their future’.

“Robert was entitled to return home safely from work to his family but the lack of segregation of vehicles and pedestrians by Marlborough Highways Limited meant he did not.

“This was a case where appropriate controls had been identified but were not being implemented on site.”

The safe use of vehicles on construction sites: A guide for those involved with construction transport – HSE provides more guidance here