Thomas Connolly

The Health & Safety Executive and the relevant bodies such as the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) and the Institute of Civil Engineers should all take steps to ensure that industry guidance and training courses (for both managers and operatives) are updated to include reference to the circumstances of this accident, namely the risk of voids being formed outside the confines of trenched excavations in sands and gravels, and in the context of tidal conditions.

(iii) The companies which manufacture and supply trench support systems offer a free advice service to the construction industry in relation to the suitability of particular systems for particular undertakings; this service should be utilised by temporary works co-ordinators and other such persons who are responsible for deciding on the method to be used in temporary works, particularly where the excavation support is required to be deployed in difficult and challenging ground conditions such as on a foreshore.