THREE companies responsible for the construction of Hinkley Point C (HPC) nuclear power station each pleaded not guilty in court on Monday (December 15) to health and safety lapses alleged to have caused the death of a site worker.

NNB Generation Company (HPC) Ltd (NNB GenCo), Bouygues Travaux Publics SAS, and Laing O’Rourke Delivery Ltd were represented in Bristol Magistrates Court at the start of a prosecution which has been brought by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the UK’s independent nuclear regulator.

Site supervisor Jason Waring, aged 48, from Nottingham, was crushed to death by moving machinery on November 13, 2022.

NNB GenCo entered a not guilty plea to failing to plan, manage, and monitor the construction phase and co-ordinate matters relating to health and safety during the construction phase to ensure that work was carried out without risks to health and safety, contravening Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.

Bouygues Travaux and Laing O’Rourke denied charges of failing to plan, manage, and monitor to ensure that construction work was carried out without risks to health and safety, contravening Regulation 15(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.

Contractors Bouygues Travaux and Laing O’Rourke are the joint venture partners in BYLOR JV, for whom Mr Waring worked, which is delivering the main civil engineering works at HPC.

NNB GenCo is the principal contractor for the ongoing nuclear construction project.

An ONR spokesperson said the matter would now progress to trial, and the magistrates committed the case for an appearance on January 30 in Bristol Crown Court, when a pre-trial review hearing was scheduled.

The spokesperson said: “The decision to begin legal proceedings followed an investigation into the incident by ONR.

“No further comment can be made at this time due to the live legal proceedings.”