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Firm hit with fine after worker’s electrocution

11:00am Wednesday 28th February 2007 in Search By Vicky O'Hare

A CIVIL engineering company has been fined almost £200,000 following the fatal electrocution of a rail worker near Basingstoke.

Balfour Beatty Rail Infrastructure Services pleaded guilty at Winchester Crown Court to a charge of failing to ensure health and safety at work, after the death of Jason Lee Pepall on the Oakley section of the London-to-Winchester line in 2003.

The court heard that Mr Pepall, who was working for Balfour Beatty as a contractor from McGinley Recruitment Services, was part of a team working on the line when the incident occurred.

Prosecutor Nicholas Haggan QC told the court that Mr Pepall was acting as lookout for a gang of workers repairing conductor rail insulator pots on the tracks, but had also been helping out with some of the physical work.

This was a tragedy that should not have happened, but the positive outcome is that working procedures, not only changing rail pots with a live rail, but other maintenance procedures, have been changed

Andrew Stretton

Mr Haggan told the court that on August 7, 2003, Mr Pepall, a husband and father from Portsmouth, was working with Gary Elton and Tendai Ndoro.

"Mr Elton walked up the track to see how much work was required and told Mr Pepall and Mr Ndoro to wait in a place of safety," he explained.

"While Mr Elton inspected the track, Mr Ndoro said he saw Mr Pepall walk towards the track and kneel down as if to change one of the insulators. The next thing he heard was a scream from Mr Pepall, who had apparently bridged the conductor and running rails and had been electrocuted."

Mr Haggan said the 29-year-old would almost certainly have been killed instantly.

He said an investigation into the incident revealed a "catalogue of errors by the defendant company", which included:

  • the gang working without any direction, supervision or control
  • the work being carried out on a live railway line without the men using protective gloves
  • no system of formal training in place
  • no risk assessment drawn up to show the dangers of this work
  • no method statement and the only instructions available were hopelessly inadequate.

Mr Haggan said the company had several previous convictions for breaches of health and safety legislation, for which it had received substantial fines.

A new standard maintenance procedure was also released weeks after the incident in 2003, prohibiting work to repair or replace conductor rail insulator pots on live lines. This comes into force in April.

Jonathan Caplan QC, defending, said: "The company acknowledges and admits that it failed to ensure that, at the relevant time, so far as was reasonable and practical, there was a safe system of work for employees for the maintenance of insulator pots while the rails were live."

He said the company accepted many of the prosecution's claims of breach of duty, but said this work was considered by the industry to be relatively straightforward.

The judge, Mr Justice Royce, ordered Balfour Beatty to pay a fine of £180,000 and court costs of £73,602.41.

Andrew Stretton, from watchdog the Office of Rail Regulation, said: "This was a tragedy that should not have happened, but the positive outcome is that working procedures, not only changing rail pots with a live rail, but other maintenance procedures, have been changed."

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Pepall's father Tony said: "We may never fully understand the events that led to Jason losing his life. What we do understand is that the Health and Safety Executive and the rail industry have reviewed and amended their policies and procedures to safeguard against this kind of event happening again."

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