NHS Trust fined £480,000 for confined space incident

An NHS Trust has been fined £480,000 after an employee suffered a brain injury after he was found unconscious in a manhole.  A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the Trust had failed to identify the manhole as a confined space, and thereafter, failed to properly risk assess the activity. The trust failed to prevent entry of employees into confined spaces at the site – which was custom and practice for a number of years. The trust also failed to identify a safe system of work or method statement for clearing blocked drains and no precautions were identified to reduce the risk of injury. The investigation also highlighted that no confined space training had been given to members of the estates team and insufficient information and instruction was provided to those involved as to the methods to be adopted, the risks involved and the precautions to be taken, when clearing drains and entering deep drains or manholes.