A construction site death in Cheshire has led to a sentence that should give every contractor pause — not because of the size of the fine, but because of how avoidable the incident was.
What happened
According to the HSE Media Centre, self-employed telehandler driver Michael Nixon has been sentenced after reversing over his colleague on a large construction site in Ince, Ellesmere Port. On the morning of 11 June 2023, 49-year-old James Connolly — working as a lift supervisor — was walking back to his work area from the welfare compound when he was struck and reversed over by the telehandler, suffering fatal injuries.
The HSE investigation found that the principal contractor had taken steps to minimise the need for reversing, including creating a turning circle that was unobstructed at the time of the incident. Despite this, Nixon — described as a qualified and experienced operator — chose to reverse without a banksman. The investigation also found he had been using his mobile phone while in control of the telehandler, contrary to the site rules he had signed up to.
Nixon, 46, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. He was sentenced to 12 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, fined £800 and ordered to pay £2,000 in costs at Warrington Magistrates' Court on 11 August 2026.
HSE Principal Inspector Laura Royales said: "Workplace transport incidents remain one of the biggest causes of deaths in the workplace. It is vital that drivers follow the site rules and do not cut corners and put lives at risk."
Why it matters to contractors
This case is a hard reminder that good site controls only work if people follow them. The principal contractor had done the difficult part — engineering out the need to reverse by providing a turning circle. The system was in place. It was defeated by a single decision to cut a corner.
That's the uncomfortable lesson here. Your traffic management plan, your one-way systems, your segregation of plant and pedestrians — none of it protects anyone if operators reverse without a banksman or drive distracted. And an experienced, qualified operator is no guarantee. Competence doesn't stop bad habits creeping in, especially when the rules feel like a formality nobody checks.
Distraction is the other thread running through this. A phone in the cab of a moving telehandler is a rule almost every site bans on paper. The question is whether that ban is actually enforced, monitored and reinforced — or just signed off at induction and forgotten.
What to check on your site
- Is reversing designed out? Turning circles, drive-through arrangements and one-way routes should remove the need to reverse wherever the layout allows.
- When reversing is unavoidable, is a banksman mandatory and available? A rule that relies on an operator judging it "safe enough" isn't a control.
- Are plant and pedestrians properly segregated? Walking routes between welfare and work areas should never cross live plant zones without protection.
- Is your no-phones-in-cab rule enforced, not just written? Spot-check it. Reinforce it in toolbox talks. Make it a disciplinary matter.
- Are site rules refreshed, not just signed once at induction? Signatures at induction fade fast — regular briefings keep them live.
- Do you record near-misses involving plant movement? They're the warning signs before a fatality.
SafetyPod documents that help
Getting the paperwork right won't drive the telehandler for you — but clear, task-specific documents make expectations unmistakable and give you something to brief, monitor and audit against.
- Cover plant movement and reversing risks with a task-specific risk assessment written to the activity, not a generic template.
- Keep site transport controls checked with the Site Monitoring Bundle — inspection and audit forms that keep controls under active review rather than filed and forgotten.
- Log warning signs before they escalate with a RIDDOR-ready accident and near-miss investigation form.
- Reinforce the rules face-to-face with the Toolbox Talks pack — ready-to-deliver briefings with a validation Q&A and attendance record.
HSE guidance HSG144, The safe use of vehicles on construction sites, sets out the risks and a checklist of safe working practices worth reading alongside your own controls.
The bottom line
A family lost a father and a son to a decision that took seconds. Design out reversing, insist on banksmen, kill the phone habit — and check that your rules are being followed, not just written down. Browse the full SafetyPod library to build the documents behind your site transport controls.