The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has served an Improvement Notice on Morgan Sindall Construction and Infrastructure Ltd after workers came close to striking a live high voltage electric cable during excavation work at the Sellafield site.
Nobody was harmed in the incident on 7 October 2020, and there was no impact on the public or the environment. However, the incident posed a serious risk to workers who were operating within one metre of the 11kV cable.
The incident occurred in an area under the control of Morgan Sindall. Enquiries by ONR confirmed that there were shortfalls by the contractor in providing relevant information to the workers undertaking the excavation work, adherence to procedures and in supervision.
Deputy Chief Nuclear Inspector Dr Mina Golshan said: “It is vital that any contractor working on a nuclear licensed site follows and adheres to the processes and procedures in place. On this occasion, Morgan Sindall fell short in this regard, and that is why we have taken action to bring about the required improvements.
“I am pleased that Morgan Sindall have cooperated fully with our enquires and are working to make the required improvements to prevent any similar occurrences.”
The Improvement Notice has been issued under Regulation 10 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999).
* In January, ONR also announced that it had served an Improvement Notice on Sellafield Ltd requiring sustained improvements in electrical safety across the site.