The recent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution of Lanes Group Limited, resulting in an £800,000 fine, is a stark and sobering reminder of why robust health and safety management is not optional. At the centre of this case is the tragic death of 51-year-old drainage engineer Miguel Galvao, who was fatally injured when a high-pressure jetting hose exploded during priming in cold conditions.
Miguel went to work and never returned home to his family. That single fact should give every business, contractor and director pause for thought.
Incidents like this are not just statistics or headlines. They represent real people, real families and lives that are permanently changed. They also highlight, once again, how failures in basic health and safety controls can have devastating consequences.
What Went Wrong?
The HSE investigation identified several serious failings, many of which will be uncomfortably familiar across high-risk industries:
- There was no safe system of work in place for priming the jetting system
- Equipment was not adequately maintained, allowing defects to go unnoticed
- Workers were not provided with sufficient information, instruction, training or supervision
Individually, each of these issues presents a risk. Combined, they create the conditions for a fatal incident.
High-pressure water jetting is inherently hazardous. The risks are well known, the guidance exists, and the control measures are established. This was not a case of an unpredictable or novel danger — it was a failure to manage known risks properly.
Safe Systems of Work: More Than a Document
One of the most important lessons from this case is the role of safe systems of work. Too often, they are treated as paperwork exercises rather than living, practical controls.
A safe system of work must:
- Be task-specific, including non-routine and infrequent activities
- Reflect real site conditions, not ideal scenarios
- Be clearly communicated to those doing the work
- Be understood, followed and supervised
In this incident, priming the jetting system, a critical and hazardous step, was not supported by a defined safe method. Without clear instructions, workers are left to rely on habit, assumption or informal practices, all of which increase the likelihood of error.
The Importance of Equipment Maintenance
Defective or poorly maintained equipment is a recurring factor in serious incidents. High-pressure systems place enormous stress on hoses, couplings and fittings. In cold conditions, materials can become brittle, increasing the risk of failure.
Planned inspection, maintenance and replacement regimes are not optional extras. They are fundamental safety controls. Where equipment is found to be defective, it must be removed from service immediately — not “made do with” to keep work moving.
Cutting corners on maintenance may save time or money in the short term, but the long-term cost can be catastrophic.
Training, Information and Supervision Save Lives
Competence is not just about experience. It is about ensuring workers have the right level of training, understand the risks they face, and are properly supervised — particularly when tasks change or conditions deteriorate.
Cold weather, unfamiliar equipment setups or altered methods of work all require additional consideration. Assuming that “they’ve done it before” is not a substitute for proper instruction and oversight.
Effective supervision is often the final barrier between a hazard and a fatal outcome.
Learning the Right Lessons
The HSE’s role is not simply to enforce, but to prevent similar tragedies from happening again. Every prosecution provides an opportunity for other organisations to reflect honestly on their own arrangements.
For many businesses, particularly those operating across multiple sites or with large supply chains, this is where external support can add real value. AcreditSafe can help organisations identify health and safety risks, assess contractor compliance, and put stronger systems in place to prevent incidents before they occur. Having clear visibility of risk and competence across your operations is a critical step in protecting both people and businesses.
Ask yourself:
- Do we have safe systems of work for all high-risk tasks, including non-routine ones?
- Are our risk assessments and method statements actually followed on site?
- Is our equipment inspection and maintenance regime genuinely effective?
- Are our teams properly trained, briefed and supervised for the work they are doing today — not last year?
If the answer to any of these is uncertain, there is work to be done.
No Shortcuts When It Comes to Safety
There are no shortcuts in health and safety. The consequences of getting it wrong are too severe, and the human cost is too high.
Every incident like this should reinforce why health and safety must be taken seriously at every level of an organisation, from directors and managers to supervisors and frontline workers. Safe systems of work, proper maintenance, and competent supervision are not bureaucratic burdens; they are life-saving measures.
Everyone deserves to go to work and come home safe.
You can read the full HSE press release relating to this case here:
https://lnkd.in/eHpZhHfP