EDF Energy and building firm Doosan Babcock have been served with improvement notices from the government’s Office for Nuclear Regulation after a worker at Hinkley Point B station near Burnham-On-Sea was injured in a fall from height.
The ONR said that its ongoing investigation into the incident had exposed gaps in the compliance of legal requirements by the licensee EDF Energy and contractor Doosan Babcock in their approach to working at height.
A Doosan Babcock employee suffered a cracked verterbrae after falling through a skylight while working on a roof during the incident in April.
Both EDF Energy and Doosan Babcock have until the deadline of 31st January 2018 to comply with the improvement notices. The ONR said it was content that the issues do not affect nuclear safety.
An EDF Energy spokesman said: “A contract partner employee sustained a cracked vertebrae after falling through a skylight while working on a roof. We are pleased he is expected to make a full recovery.”
“We held a thorough investigation into the event and we are taking the necessary measures to ensure a similar accident does not happen.”
“Safety is our number one priority and we have kept the ONR fully informed of the circumstances and the actions we have taken.”
A spokesman for Doosan Babcock said: “Following an incident involving a Doosan Babcock colleague at Hinkley Point B in April 2017, we launched an internal investigation and have been co-operating with the ONR investigation.”
“As a result we have now been issued with an improvement notice and are working closely with our partners, EDF, to make the necessary improvements identified.”
