Company fined £450,000 and director and site manager sentenced following death of labourer
A company has been fined £450,000 and the firm’s director has received a suspended prison sentence after a labourer was crushed to death at a construction site.
Simon Briggs, 61, principal director of Stonehurst Estates Ltd, was today sentenced to 23 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, for a health and safety offence following the death of 49-year-old Oleksander “Sasha” Rudyy at a development site in Hockley, Birmingham, on May 8, 2019.
Site foreman Vasyl Bychkov, 45, was also sentenced to 130 hours of unpaid work after previously pleading guilty to failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of others at the site.
The company, Stonehurst Estates Ltd, was fined £450,000 after pleading guilty to corporate manslaughter and a health and safety offence. The firm was also ordered to pay costs of £167,601.
Mr Rudyy had been removing supporting metal bars with an angle grinder as part of a large-scale renovation project involving three bordering sites when the structure collapsed. He was not aware the metal bars played a crucial role in supporting the structure.
Stonehurst Estates Ltd worked on the sensitive structure without a proper plan and sequence in place, despite safety measures being known and readily available to the company.
None of the men working on the building, including Bychkov who was onsite at the time, had any expertise in demolition work, and there was no risk assessment or safe system of work in place for the task Mr Rudyy was undertaking.
The standard of care granted to Mr Rudyy by the company was described as “woeful” by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expert.
The prosecution followed an investigation by West Midlands Police and the HSE.
Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “Although he was not onsite when this tragedy took place, as director of Stonehurst Estates, Simon Briggs owed a duty of care to Mr Rudyy for any work carried out.
“He and his company failed to plan and carry out the demolition safely, which led to tragic consequences where a man needlessly lost his life.
“As site manager on the day in question, Vasyl Bychkov, who had no expertise in demolition, asked Mr Rudyy to undertake a task that lacking sufficient expertise, was inherently dangerous. He failed to take reasonable care for the health and safety of labourers working at the site.
“Our thoughts remain with Mr Rudyy’s family and friends at this time.”
Notes to editors
Stonehurst Estates Ltd
On 17 January, the company pleaded guilty to:
• Corporate manslaughter contrary to section 1 of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 in that it caused the death of Oleksander Rudyy by gross breach of a duty of care it owed to him.
• Contravention of a health and safety regulation contrary to section 33(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, in that it failed to discharge the duty imposed upon it by virtue of regulation 20(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 in that as a contractor it failed to plan and carry out the demolition or dismantling of a structure in such a manner as to prevent danger.
Simon Briggs, [DOB: 30/04/62], is of Danehill, West Sussex.
On 17 January, he pleaded guilty to:
• Contravention of a health and safety regulation contrary to section 33(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, in that the related offence committed by Stonehurst Estates Ltd was attributable to neglect on the part of Simon Briggs, a director of Stonehurst Estates Ltd.
Vasyl Bychkov, [DOB: 04/08/78], is of Clapham, south London.
On 17 January, he pleaded guilty to:
• Contravention of section 33(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, in that he failed to discharge the duty imposed upon him by section 7 of the Act to take reasonable care for the health and safety of others who may be affected by his acts and omissions at work.
The following charges were left to lie on file:
Simon Briggs
• Manslaughter contrary to common law.
Vasyl Bychkov
• Manslaughter contrary to common law.
No evidence was offered on the following charges against Vittoria Apartments Ltd, and the judge ordered not guilty verdicts:
• Corporate manslaughter contrary to section 1 of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 in that it caused the death of Oleksander Rudyy by gross breach of a duty of care it owed to him.
• Contravention of a health and safety regulation contrary to section 33(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, in that it failed to discharge the duty imposed upon it by virtue of regulation 20(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 in that as a contractor it failed to plan and carry out the demolition or dismantling of a structure in such a manner as to prevent danger.
• Failing to discharge the duty imposed upon it by virtue of regulation 20(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.