Two companies were fined £1.19 million after a Romanian man died at a construction site in the United Kingdom

Two British companies have been fined a total of £1.19 million, while a manager has received a suspended prison sentence, six years after the death of Romanian national Gheorghița Arsene. The 33-year-old man was buried alive on 24 June 2020 at a construction site in Banstead, Surrey, United Kingdom.

Arsene was working in an approximately three-metre-deep trench, where he was replacing a damaged pipe. The excavation walls collapsed on top of him before the worker could get out. He was pronounced dead approximately one hour after the collapse, as the soil covering him made resuscitation impossible.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that the trench had no support systems and that soil had been deposited right next to its edge. After a three-month trial at the Old Bailey, Appledorn Developments Limited and T Vaughan Limited were found guilty of breaching safety regulations. The first company was fined £500,000, while the second received a £650,000 fine and was ordered to pay £40,000 in legal costs.

The 42-year-old manager received a 10-month suspended prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.