{"id":254,"date":"2018-11-08T07:42:18","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T07:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/?p=254"},"modified":"2018-11-08T07:42:18","modified_gmt":"2018-11-08T07:42:18","slug":"court-hands-out-1-2m-fine-after-digger-ruptures-gas-pipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/court-hands-out-1-2m-fine-after-digger-ruptures-gas-pipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Court hands out \u00a31.2m fine after digger ruptures gas pipe"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major UK gas distribution company and a Kent based contractor have been fined a total of more than \u00a31.2m after a gas main ignited during repairs injuring two workers.<\/p>\n

Folkestone Magistrates Court heard how on 27 May 2016, Southern Gas Network Plc (SGN) employees were called to a gas escape at Thanet Way in Whitstable, Kent.<\/p>\n

The gas escape had been caused by employees of Cliffe Contractors Ltd damaging a medium pressure polyethylene gas main during construction work.<\/p>\n

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During the repair the gas ignited causing injuries to two SGN employees. One worker suffered severe burns while the other sustained cuts and bruises.<\/p>\n

An HSE investigation found Cliffe Contractors Ltd had not followed safe digging techniques when excavating around the pipeline resulting in the gas main being damaged by a mechanical excavator.<\/p>\n

This led to a significant amount of gas being released. Subsequently, SGN did not follow their own procedures or recognised safe systems of work when repairing the main.<\/p>\n

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Southern Gas Networks Plc pleaded guilty to safety breaches and was fined \u00a31.2m and ordered to pay costs of \u00a318,975.43.<\/p>\n

Cliffe Contractors Ltd of Rochester also pleaded guilty and was fined \u00a360,000 and ordered to pay costs of \u00a312,689.13.<\/p>\n

Speaking after the hearing HSE Principal Specialist Inspector Martin Wayland said: \u201cThis incident, in which a worker could have easily been killed, could have been avoided if safe excavation by Cliffe Contractors had been carried out and safe mains repair policies had been followed by SGN.<\/p>\n

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“Both companies were aware of the precautions that were required to be taken.<\/p>\n

“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards\u201d<\/p>\n

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from Construction Enquirer https:\/\/ift.tt\/2RIGF5x<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A major UK gas distribution company and a Kent based contractor have been fined a total of more than \u00a31.2m after a gas main ignited during repairs injuring two workers. Folkestone Magistrates Court heard how on 27 May 2016, Southern Gas Network Plc (SGN) employees were called to a gas escape at Thanet Way in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-construction-enquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255,"href":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions\/255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}