Jackson's in court on safety issues

TWO Suffolk firms were due in court today charged in connection with the death of a man who suffered fatal injuries in a construction site accident.

Ipswich-based Jackson Civil Engineering is one of the firms which was appearing before Ipswich Crown Court to answer accusations that it contravened health and safety rules.

Father-of-two Neville Cook, 43, lost both his legs after being struck by an excavator during work to install new sewerage pipes.

He died two weeks later as a result of his injuries.

Following the accident between Corton and Ness Point, Lowestoft, the Health and Safety Executive launched a full-scale investigation.

It is now prosecuting Jackson Civil Engineering and Christopher Nicholson, of Needham, near Diss.

It is alleged Mr Cook's employer Mr Nicholson failed to ensure the safety of his employees, and that Jackson Civil Engineering failed to ensure the safety of people not in its employment by not planning and maintaining a safe working area around an excavator.

Mr Cook, who lived in Clemence Street, Lowestoft, was struck by the bucket of a JCB digger while working on a main sewer pipe leading to a pumping station at Ness Point to prepare it for the completion of the Corton sewage treatment works.

He was working in a trench and placing insulation webbing around the pipes to make them fit into the pit when the accident happened.

He was taken to the James Paget Hospital, where he underwent a lengthy operation.

But surgeons could not save his legs. He remained in intensive care in the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital for 11 days but died on November 21, 2000, from shock and massive injuries.

Mr Cook, who had no previous experience of the construction injury, was working on a £40 million Anglian Water project to provide a new sewage treatment scheme for Lowestoft.

Up to 250 workers were involved in the project.