Construction firm fined £1 million

Nishimatsu Construction Company Ltd has been fined £700,000 and ordered to pay costs of £145,000 following a tunnel blow-out during construction of the Lewisham extension to the Docklands Light Railway in London. Together with their own defence costs, Nisihimatsu are facing a total bill of £1 million.

The prosecution follows an investigation by the HSE into an incident in February 1998. During test pressurisation operations with compressed air, a blowout occurred in the Southbound running tunnel. A 22-metre crater was blown out of the ground with debris thrown over an area of around 150 metres, destroying the tennis courts and a football pitch at George Green School.