Skip to main content
IOSH Magazine: Safety, Health and Wellbeing in the world of work - return to the homepage IOSH Magaazine logo
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit @ioshmagazine on Twitter
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on LinkedIn
Gender equality
Practice meets perfect
May/June 2023 issue

Main navigation

  • Home
    • Browse previous issues
    • Member accolades
    • Member tributes
  • Health
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Sickness absence
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Rehabilitation
      • Personal injury
      • Return to work
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Achieving Fellowship
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Professional skills
      • Qualifications
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Jobs
  • Covid-19
  • Knowledge Bank
    • Back to basics
    • Book club
    • Infographics
    • Podcast
    • Reports
    • Webinars
    • Videos
  • Products & Services
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Sickness absence
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Leadership
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Qualifications
      • Professional skills
      • Achieving Fellowship
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Transport and logistics
  • Third sector
  • Retail
  • Mining and quarrying
  • Rail
  • Rehabilitation
    • Personal injury
    • Return to work
  • Utilities
  • Manufacturing and engineering
  • Construction
  • Sector: IOSH Branch
    • Sector: Northern Ireland
    • Sector: Midland
    • Sector: Merseyside
    • Sector: Manchester and North West Districts
    • Sector: Ireland East
    • Sector: Ireland
    • Sector: Edinburgh
    • Sector: Desmond-South Munster
    • Sector: Qatar
    • Sector: Oman
    • Singapore
    • Sector: South Coast
    • Sector: South Wales
    • Sector: Thames Valley
    • Sector: Tyne and Wear
    • Sector: UAE
    • Sector: West of Scotland
    • Sector: Yorkshire
  • Healthcare
  • Sector: Fire
  • Sector: Financial/general services
  • Sector: Energy
  • Education
  • Sector: Communications and media
  • Chemicals
  • Sector: Central government
  • Catering and leisure
  • Agriculture and forestry
  • Sector: Local government
  • Sector: IOSH Group
    • Sector: Financial Services
    • Sector: Sports Grounds and Events
    • Rural industries
    • Sector: railway
    • Public Services
    • Sector: Offshore
    • Sector: Hazardous Industries
    • Sector: Food and Drink
    • Sector: Fire Risk Management
    • Education
    • Construction
    • Sector: Aviation and Aerospace
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Categories
  • Topics
  • Management
  • Human factors
  • Safe systems of work
Construction
News

Two men jailed over fatal trench collapse

Open-access content Wednesday 5th July 2017
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Two men jailed over fatal trench collapse

Father-of-five Shane Wilkinson, 33, was employed as a ground worker at the Conquest Homes building development in Collyweston, Northamptonshire. He had been on the site for just a few days before the accident happened.

On 4 September 2014 Wilkinson was standing near the edge of an unshored trench when its wall collapsed, burying him underneath the rubble. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

During the nine-week trial, Northampton Crown Court was told that Andrew Winterton, who was responsible for safety at the site, had ignored basic measures. The excavation digger-driver, Dean Wortley, who traded as Clearview Demolition, had not properly or adequately secured the sides of the trench.

In a statement the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Wilkinson had told friends of at least two previous collapses in the same trench, yet nothing had been done to protect those working nearby.

Fatal trench collapse-Shane-Wilkinson-credit-Northamptonshire-Police_Fiona Morrison, specialist prosecutor in the CPS special crime division, said: "Throughout their trail Wortley and Winterton tried to pass the blame for this incident on to others, but the evidence put forward by the prosecution showed the jury the fault was theirs.

"Winterton supervised a building site which was badly run, with poorly-trained workers and he had scant regard for health and safety. Wortley excavated a trench without any professional safety measures. It should have been obvious to both of them that it was highly dangerous."

On 30 June Winterton was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence, for which he was sentenced to four years in jail. He also received a one-year prison sentence for breaching s 7 of the Health and Safety at Work (HSW) Act after he had failed to take reasonable care for the safety of himself and others affected by his actions, and two eight-month prison sentences for "causing a corporate body to commit an offence".

Wortley was handed a one-year jail term (six months to be spent in custody and six months on license) after he was found guilty of breaching s 3(2) of the HSW Act and reg 31 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, which states that steps must be taken to ensure excavations do not collapse. He must pay £20,000 towards costs.

The sentences for both men, who were convicted following a joint investigation by Northamptonshire Police and the Health and Safety Executive, will run concurrently.

Conquest Homes was found guilty of breaching s 2(1) of the HSW Act and fined £55,000 plus £20,000 costs.

Senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Steve Woliter from Northamptonshire Police said: [Wilkinson's] death was an avoidable and terrible loss of life due to the gross negligence of Winterton and the dangerous environment created by both him and Wortley. Shane's death could easily have been avoided in Winterton and Wortley had shown any regard for basic safety measures on the site.

"This is the first case of gross negligence manslaughter to have been successfully tried in Northamptonshire so my extended thanks go to the tenacity of the overall prosecution team since 2014."

Video clip: Det Supt Steve Woliter speaks following sentencing

You may also be interested in...

©Mark Thomas/REX/Shutterstock

 Construction boss jailed for 14 months over London balcony deaths

Tuesday 11th July 2017
Martin Gutaj has been sentenced to 14 months in prison and disqualified from being a company director for four years. He was found guilty of breaching s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (HSW) Act at the Old Bailey in London on 19 May. Gutaj’s company, Martinisation London, has been fined £1.2m after it was previously convicted of two counts of corporate manslaughter and two breaches of s 2(1) of the HSW Act.
Open-access content
The Ministry of Manpower | This photo is copyright 2011 Michael Coghlan and made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license

 Singapore government takes action to reduce 'worrying' workplace transport accidents

Wednesday 28th June 2017
The ministry said incidents involving vehicles were the most common cause of worker deaths. From January to May this year, 287 workers were injured in such accidents, six of them fatally. More than 250 workplace inspections will now take place over the next eight weeks in an enforcement crackdown named “Operations Roadrunner”. The MOM said that during the first five months of the year it inspected traffic management systems at more than 400 construction sites, storage yards, warehouses and factories. One in five visits uncovered poor practices.
Open-access content
The roof area where the employee fell through

 Devon builder fined for fragile roof fall

Thursday 13th July 2017
Taunton Magistrates’ Court heard this week that 26-year-old Ryan Sartin was repairing a roof at Home Farm, Shepton Beauchamp in Somerset on 23 June 2016 when the incident happened.T Broom Construction of Pine Park Road, Honiton, Devon pleaded guilty to breaching reg 4 (1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It was also ordered to pay costs of £1,016.
Open-access content

 Construction worker injured by 500 falling scaffold fittings

Monday 26th June 2017
Weymouth Magistrates’ Court was told that employees of Carter Training had been using a mobile crane to lift a stillage of 500 2 kg fittings on a building site in Dorchester, Dorset.The container turned on its side and the contents emptied on to staff working directly below. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said that lifting equipment directly above contractors had put them at risk of harm. The victim, 44, sustained two fractures to her left shoulder blade, a fracture to her left collar bone, a cut to the back of her head and bruising.
Open-access content

 Developer’s CDM breach left worker paralysed

Monday 17th July 2017
Sukhdev Kundi was working on a stepladder on the first floor of the property when the incident happened on 30 May 2012. As he was pulling cables, he fell off the ladder and through an opening, landing 4 m below.Kundi broke his spine in three places and was paralysed from the chest down. He spent three months in a coma and a total of 12 months in hospital. He died in May 2015, with the cause of death being respiratory failure due to a collapsed lung and pneumonia alongside his spinal injuries and paraplegia.
Open-access content
The JCB drove through the wall | Image credit: HSE

 *UPDATE* ‘Man of straw’ lands suspended sentence for botched demolition

Friday 16th June 2017
The building on High Street in Ramsgate was owned by Panther VAT (PAL), a subsidiary of property investment company Panther Securities. It was an old textile printing factory with a historic frontage, but PAL had planned to convert it into 20 flats and had contracted sole trader Martin Elmes to undertake the demolition work.
Open-access content
Topics
Safe systems of work
Construction
News
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Health and Safety Improvement Manager

Leeds
£35000 - £50000 per annum
Reference
5452992

SHEQ Systems Advisor

Up to £40000.00 per annum + Car Allowance
Reference
5452988

Senior Health and Safety Manager

Reading
Up to £65000.00 per annum + Great Car Allowance & Benefits
Reference
5452983
See all jobs »

Sign up for regular e-alerts

Receive the latest news and features, free to your inbox

Sign up

Subscribe to IOSH magazine

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
IOSH Covers
​
FOLLOW US
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel +44 (0)20 7880 6200
​

IOSH

About IOSH
Become a member
IOSH Events
MyIOSH

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to IOSH magazine
Write for IOSH magazine

IOSH Magazine

Health
Safety
Management
Skills
IOSH Jobs

© 2023 IOSH • IOSH is not responsible for the content of external sites

ioshmagazine.com and IOSH Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ