The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has served a fire enforcement notice on Bylor JV (Laing O'Rourke and Bouygues Travaux Publics) after identifying significant fire safety shortfalls at the Hinkley Point C nuclear construction site.
Following a focused fire safety intervention, ONR inspectors identified that Bylor had failed to implement appropriate arrangements for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of preventive and protective measures.
Many of the Bylor buildings on the Somerset site are currently at an advanced stage of construction and these shortfalls resulted in inadequate general fire precautions, including a lack of an adequate emergency lighting system.
Bylor is a joint venture of Bouygues Travaux Publics and Laing O'Rourke, delivering HPC's main civil engineering works.
Ray Cassar, ONR’s Fire Safety Inspector said: “Fire safety is fundamental to protecting workers and the public at nuclear construction sites.
“Our inspectors found that fire safety arrangements at the Hinkley Point C site did not meet the standards we require, particularly given the scale and complexity of the ongoing construction work. We also took into account several similar findings from previous inspections.
“We will work with Bylor JV to ensure they put proper systems in place to manage fire risks effectively and prevent similar issues arising in future."
The enforcement action has been served under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
There were no consequences to employees, the public or the environment as a result of the shortfalls. However, ONR identified the potential for harm and risk of serious injury, which required regulatory action.
The improvements must be completed by 30 June 2026. In the meantime, Bylor JV is expected to manage the risk profile accordingly.