Hinkley Point C safety charges: ONR prosecutions and CDM lessons for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Contractors Bouygues Travaux Publics, Laing O’Rourke Delivery and principal contractor NNB Generation Company (HPC) Ltd have all pleaded not guilty at Bristol magistrates’ court to alleged breaches of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 on the Hinkley Point C nuclear project. The ONR prosecutions relate to a fatal incident involving site supervisor Jason Waring on 13 November 2022 and a separate 20 August 2022 accident where slinger Paul Dunne was seriously injured by a falling rebar mesh wall in a pre-fabrication yard. All matters are adjourned to Bristol Crown Court on 30 January for pre-trial review.
Technical Brief
- Alleged breaches centre on CDM 2015 Reg 13(1) and 15(2) duties for planning, management and monitoring.
- NNB GenCo is charged specifically over principal contractor duties to co‑ordinate health and safety during the construction phase.
- Bouygues Travaux Publics and Laing O’Rourke Delivery face charges tied to contractor duties for safe construction work execution.
- Investigation would typically interrogate lifting plans, jig design, rebar panel stability calculations and slinger/signaller communication protocols.
- For nuclear civils, outcomes may tighten expectations on CDM-compliant monitoring systems, near-miss reporting and high-consequence lifting operations.
Our Take
Bylor JV and the Office for Nuclear Regulation already feature in our database in connection with a separate fire enforcement notice at Hinkley Point C, suggesting regulators are building a wider pattern of safety scrutiny around the same contracting team.
Bouygues and Laing O’Rourke are also central to the Sizewell C contracting line-up in another recent item, so any proven systemic safety failings at Hinkley Point C could have knock-on implications for procedures and oversight on the UK’s next major nuclear build.
Across the 674 safety- and failure-tagged pieces in our coverage, repeat appearances of Bouygues on large UK schemes such as Hinkley Point C and the Lower Thames Crossing indicate that how this case is resolved may influence client attitudes to risk allocation on future mega-projects involving the group.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
