The boiler house collapsed in February 2016 (Pete Lusabia/Alamy Stock Photo)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is preparing to transport more evidence relating to the partial collapse of Didcot Power Station – to add to the 870 tonnes of material it is already examining following the disaster.
Four men– Michael Collings, Ken Cresswell, Christopher Huxtable and John Shaw – were killed during the incident on 23 February 2016.
Three years on, Thames Valley Police and the HSE are still probing possible manslaughter and health and safety offences.
Now the HSE has awarded a £231,000 contract to Steve Foster Cranes to remove and transfer evidence from Didcot in Oxfordshire to its site in Buxton, Derbyshire.
In a transparency notice lodged on the Official Journal of the European Union OJEU), the HSE said Steve Foster Cranes was the only operator in the EU capable of carrying out the work and maintaining evidential integrity.
HSE previously awarded a contract to the same company in March 2017 for the same purpose.
Speaking in February on the third anniversary of the collapse, Thames Valley Police assistant chief constable, Jason Hogg, said: “Thames Valley Police along with our colleagues at the Health and Safety Executive remain committed to obtaining answers and justice for those who have been affected.
“A dedicated team continues to investigate manslaughter and health and safety offences. The investigation has now moved off the site of the collapse with 870 tonnes of evidence moved to the Health and Safety Executive’s Science Division facility in Buxton, Derbyshire for further forensic examination.
“A team of experts from HSE and Thames Valley Police, supported by independent scientific experts, continue to analyse thousands of exhibits and work through complex technical data which takes significant time to analyse and interpret.
“Further detailed interviews of both witnesses and potential suspects are also planned to further progress the investigation.”
