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Brand Energy and Infrastructure Services UK, a construction company based in Eastbourne, have been fined £1.6 million after a 24-year-old man was crushed to death on their South Cliff Tower site.
On 8 August 2019, Jack Phillips was assisting while a lorry mounted crane was lifting sections of a Mast Climber Work Platform into place.
The lifting sling attached to the crane snapped, and the load fell on top of Jack, killing him.
A joint investigation between the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Sussex Police was launched, which found that Brand Energy and Infrastructure Services UK (trading as Lyndon SGB) had failed to properly plan the lifting operation of the work platform.
The company, which provided temporary access equipment, had failed to identify any safe exclusion zones in the lifting area. They also failed to put in place a robust system for checking accessories for thorough examination. This meant that expired, out-of-date accessories were still in use, including lifting slings.
Jack’s parents, Scot and Nichola, released a victim statement:
“How do you put into words the utter devastation you feel. Our child, our only son, is dead. Our life, our family’s life has now changed forever.
“We are no longer complete without Jack, we will never see our baby boy, the boy we nurtured and helped grow into a young man, get married, raise a family, or grow old.
“His sisters will never have the honour of him being an uncle to their children. We will never have the honour of seeing or meeting his children. Jack was a happy go lucky ‘Jack-the-lad’. Everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him, loved him.”
Brand Energy and Infrastructure Services UK Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £1,600,000 and ordered to pay £23,193.60 in costs at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on 27 November 2024.
Commenting on the case, HSE Principal Inspector Ross Carter said:
“This tragic incident led to the wholly avoidable death of a young man. This death could so easily have been prevented if Jack’s employer had fulfilled its statutory duty to plan and manage the risks associated with lifting equipment and lifting operations.
“Brand Energy and Infrastructure Services UK Ltd failed in its duty of care to all its operatives, including Jack, in the way it planned and implemented the lifting operations and the slack customs and practices it allowed to become part of the safety culture with regard to lifting.”
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