Thames Water fined
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
11/08/2008
Thames Water has been fined over £2,000 for two separate incidents of illegally blocking roads and pavements and forcing pedestrians to walk dangerously in the street.
In the first incident, Thames Water workers on Cromwell Grove, Shepherd's Bush, carried out dangerous work without erecting safety barriers. This effectively illegally blocked the carriageway to traffic.
The contractors had also closed the footway but had not provided a safe route around the work site. This meant that pedestrians had to walk into the road unguarded to pass the works.
If that was not bad enough, the workmen had also left a jackhammer on the pavement with no barriers around it, causing a dangerous trip hazard to pedestrians.
At West London Magistrates’ Court last week (Tuesday August 5), Thames Water was fined and ordered to pay costs totalling £1,307 for this offence.
In a separate incident on Hammersmith Grove, Thames Water carried out dangerous work using an electric saw, again without placing the necessary barriers around the site. Pedestrians were forced to navigate their way around the site. Thames Water was fined £968 for this misdemeanour at the same court hearing.
Both of these offences breached section 65 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 which require utility companies to ensure their sites meet a national safety standard.
Cllr Nick Botterill, deputy leader and cabinet member for environment, said: “We will continue to fight on behalf of residents to ensure that our roads and pavements are safe. We will not tolerate utility companies riding roughshod over the law and jeopardising the well-being of pedestrians. I hope these fines send out a stark message to Thames Water that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable in Hammersmith & Fulham.”
These cases were investigated and taken to court by the council’s network assurance team. Last year alone, the team completed over 22,000 inspections on utility works. They only receive payment however from utility companies for a small percentage of these inspections and take health and safety of sites extremely seriously.
In March, the team successfully prosecuted Fulcrum Connections for digging up Coningham Road without permission. They were fined £1,515 and ordered to pay £450 in costs to the council.
