Jack-knifed lorry causes fatal crush

Carillion Highway Maintenance Limited and its traffic management subcontractor have been fined a total of £202,000 after a worker was killed while working on the M25.

Christopher Lewis was completing fencing work near the Holmesdale Tunnel section of the motorway near Enfield when he was crushed between a van and a safety barrier after a lorry jack-knifed in August 2004.

Carillion set up an overnight contraflow with Traffic Management (North East) Limited (TMNE) to allow the repair work to take place.

CD Fencing and Construction Services Limited were working to remove and restore wire rope safety fencing in the central reservation.

Once the work had been completed Mr Lewis and his colleague Simon Reid, both CD Fencing employees, were waiting in a closed lane for the safety fencing to be reinstated so the tunnel could re-open.

They were preparing their equipment when a lorry jack-knifed, hitting cones and a stationary CD Fencing van, which sent the van careering towards the hard shoulder.

Mr Lewis was pronounced dead at the scene after he was found pinned between the van and a safety barrier.

Meanwhile, Gavin Shaw, who was working for TMNE, suffered a broken wrist after he was knocked over by a traffic cone.

Carillion Highway Maintenance Limited pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £200,000 with £50,000 costs. Traffic Management (North East) Limited was found guilty of breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and fined £2,000 with costs of £120,000, it is in administration.

The jury did not agree on the charge against CD Fencing Ltd under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was formally acquitted when the prosecution concluded it was not in the public interest to proceed to re-trial.

The driver of the lorry had been previously convicted of driving without due care and attention in a case brought by the Crown Prosecution Service.

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