By Sarah Donnelly · Published 24 June 2026 · 3 min read
A Hertfordshire construction company has been fined £20,000 following the death of a 35-year-old labourer. The worker drowned after falling into an unguarded, water-filled excavation on a residential building site. The fatal incident exposes the extreme danger of open groundworks, especially when personnel are housed adjacent to active construction zones.
Background
Mykhalio Hustei was employed as a labourer for Alchemist DB Limited. He was working on a project to build several new flats on the High Street in Bovingdon. On 22 October 2021, the 35-year-old had been socialising with friends. He lived in a property directly adjoining the active construction site. While attempting to make his way home in the dark, he fell into a deep foundation trench. Heavy rainfall had caused the exposed excavation hole to fill entirely with water. His body was not discovered until approximately 2:00 PM the following afternoon.
Industry implications
The Health and Safety Executive investigation revealed that Alchemist DB Limited was acting as the principal contractor for a family-run property development business. Deep foundation trenches had been dug across the footprint of the new building. However, these excavations were crisscrossing the entire site without any designated, safe pedestrian walkways. The company completely failed to implement appropriate precautions to ensure the safety of anyone moving around the site. Workers were forced to navigate the hazards using unsecured large boards and wooden planks as makeshift bridges. There were no handrails fitted to these boards. The site lacked dedicated artificial lighting, making the hazard invisible at night. The contractor only implemented safety measures after the fatal incident had occurred. Following enforcement action from inspectors, the firm was forced to install dedicated walkways bridging over the exposed excavations using a proper scaffolding framework.
What contractors should do now
Site managers must ensure no groundworks proceed until all excavations are comprehensively secured. Edge protection must feature substantial, fixed barriers rather than basic hazard warning tape. Safe, dedicated pedestrian routes must be established and maintained across all active footing zones. If workers or the public need to cross an excavation, fully engineered footbridges with double guardrails and toe boards are mandatory. Sites must be adequately illuminated with temporary lighting towers to ensure hazards remain visible outside of daylight hours. Groundworks contractors must also implement a daily pumping schedule to prevent trenches from accumulating dangerous depths of rainwater.
Expert view
HSE inspector Rauf Ahmed delivered a damning assessment of the site conditions. He stated that the site was quite literally a death trap. This case demonstrates that providing retrospective safety measures is a gross failure of corporate duty. The measures put in place by the company after the death are a crude reminder of what should have been done from the start. The fact that the company subsequently entered liquidation did not deter the regulator. The HSE pursued a criminal conviction against the firm in their absence. This proves that corporate dissolution does not grant immunity from regulatory prosecution or public accountability.
What happens next
Alchemist DB Limited, previously based in Borehamwood, was sentenced in absence at Luton Magistrates Court on 29 May 2026. The firm was found guilty of breaching Regulation 22(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Alongside the £20,000 fine, the court ordered the company to pay £5,000 in legal costs. The HSE prosecution was brought by enforcement lawyer Edward Parton and paralegal officer Rebecca Forman. Contractors involved in autumn and winter groundworks can expect heightened scrutiny on excavation edge protection and water management during routine site inspections over the coming months.
Sources
- Health and Safety Executive — UK Government
