BFK is a joint venture that has been formed by BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial Agroman (UK) and Kier Infrastructure as part of the Crossrail London rail project. This contractor, consisting of the three companies combined, has been fined in excess of £1 million because of three different accidents that have taken place in the Fisher Street development site in Holborn.
The central London construction work is being carried out in order to deliver a new railway line that, when complete will be known as the Elizabeth line. The new tracks well go through central London and is expected to be open in 2018.
The contractor BFK has been sentenced today, on the 28th of July at Southwark Crown Court after Rene Tkáčik, which occurred when a section of the roof collapsed on him while he as working on the 7th of March 2014. The other two accidents that took place at the Fisher Site were the severe leg injuries sustained by Terrence Hughes after being hit by a reversing excavator in an incident on the 16th January 2015, and head injuries suffered by Alex Vizitiu on the 22nd January 2015 after he was hit by a high pressure mix of water and concrete during a routine operation at the site.
At a previous hearing which took place at Magistrates’ Court, the contractor pleaded guilty all three of the offences. The company admitted being in breach of reg 10(2) of the Work at Height Regulation that relates to falling objects. The company was in breach of this regulation at the time Rene Tkáčik died. In relation to the other two incidents that took place in 2015, BFK pleaded guilty, admitting breaches of s. 22(1) (a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulation of 2007, a regulation which looks into the role of the principal contractor.
The company was also given fines: £300,000 for the breach in regulation that led to the death of Rene Tkáčik, and £600,000 and £165,000 respectively for the breach which led to the incidents involving Terrence Hughes and Alex Vizitiu. The JV, who was the principal contractor of the construction work for the western tunnels of the Crossrail project was also ordered to pay costs which amounted to over £42,000 in addition to a further £31.065 million penalty.
