A company and its director have been fined a combined £18,000 after one of their workers had to be dug out of a three metre hole which collapsed.
Edward Keely, 30, was left with multiple broken bones after the soil fell on top of him as he worked in it with two other workers at Lone Oak Farm in Ditchling.
This month, his employer JHE Construction and its director Jordan Hay-Ellis pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws following the incident.
The company had been contracted to complete a full barn conversion, which included the installation of a new septic tank, in February 2023.
In order to install the tank, workers had to dig an excavation approximately three metres deep.
The three men were in the hole preparing to install a concrete base for the septic tank to sit on when the walls collapsed.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that no precautions had been taken to prevent the collapse of the excavation, yet the men were expected to work in it.
HSE guidance advises that all work of this nature should be correctly planned, including whether any temporary support structures should be used. This may also include battering the excavation sides to make it safer.
JHE Construction Limited, of Icarus Avenue, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 22 (1) of The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The company was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay £2,612 in costs at Brighton Magistrates Court on 24 March 2025.
Jodran Hay-Ellie, 33, of Icarus Avenue, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 22 (1) of The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. He was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Nathan Kent said: “The risk associated with excavation collapse is well understood within the construction industry and this incident was easily foreseeable.
“All excavation work should be supported or battered back.
“Failure to do so in this case resulted in a young man sustained very serious injuries.
“HSE will not hesitate to take action against companies which do not do all they can to keep people safe.”
