The incident happened on 27 July 2021, at a site run by SCS Railways, HSE reports. The tipper truck fell approximately two metres and landed on the driver鈥檚 side. The man behind the wheel suffered a broken nose, cut hand, and a shoulder injury.
Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited the site after the incident and found that there were no signs on the haulage routes being used. They also identified that there was no edge protection in place to prevent vehicles going over the edge of the ramp, and that excavations adjacent to some of the vehicle routes had unsupported, vertical faces which were at risk of collapse.
The incident occurred in an area where SCS Railways was building a 鈥榗ut and cover tunnel鈥�. Material from the excavation was to be reused, removing the need for it to be taken off site.
SCS Railways had contracted another company - ACE Grab Hire and Haulage Limited (ACE) - to transport excavation material via 20-tonne tipper trucks to an area under the control of another joint venture working on HS2, Align JV. ACE drivers had been operating at the site for about two weeks by the time the incident occurred.
The subsequent HSE investigation found that on the morning of the incident, the SCS earthworks team changed their working area after an Align JV representative found the original material could not be used. This meant moving the excavator's loading position and creating a new traffic route 鈥� but the change inadvertently left an unprotected edge on the bank above.
When the first ACE tipper truck driver used the higher-level bank instead of the intended new route, his vehicle slipped on the ramp. The next ACE driver followed the same path 鈥� and his vehicle veered off the edge of the bank.
HSE on the management of vehicle movements on construction sites states that physical barriers, such as safety banks, should be provided at the edges of excavations. SCS Railways, of 1 Hercules Way, Leavesden, Watford, pleaded guilty to contravening section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined 拢400,000 and ordered to pay costs of 拢8,974 at Uxbridge Magistrates鈥� Court on 16 June 2026.
HSE Inspector Gordon Carson said, 鈥淪CS had detailed procedures in place for much of the work at the site, including temporary works schemes for excavations.
鈥淗owever, its failure to properly plan and promptly communicate changes in vehicle routes created unsafe conditions for the drivers of tipper trucks.
鈥淭he consequences of this could have been even more serious than they were for the driver involved in this incident.鈥�