Construction News<\/em> that 11 of the workers were on its staff and it has spoken to all of them about redeployment to other sites.<\/p>\n\u201cSeven of the Bilfinger employees decided to leave in December 2025,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBilfinger UK was offering them deployment as well. The other four remain employed with Bilfinger. We have been in touch with all of them regarding alternative opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still refute the allegations regarding the disregard of physical and mental health and the claim that Bilfinger refused union representatives access to the site.<\/p>\n
\u201cBilfinger UK takes the health, safety and wellbeing of all personnel extremely seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, union GMB disputed the circumstances surrounding the seven workers’ departure and said that their contracts were terminated following a consultation.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of them decided to leave of their own volition,\u201d GMB said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly three were offered alternative work and we don\u2019t believe it\u2019s a coincidence that they were the ones with over two years\u2019 service.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe others simply had their contracts terminated which has led to some of them submitting appeals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both BGEN and Bilfinger launched consultations with their employees under \u2018Some Other Substantial Reason\u2019 grounds \u2013 an employment law term for a lawful dismissal reason not covered by four specific grounds listed in the Employment Rights Act 1996 \u2013 according to GMB.<\/p>\n
BGEN\u2019s consultation is still ongoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe safety and wellbeing of our people is always our highest priority. We take all health and safety concerns seriously and the issues raised were dealt with promptly,\u201d BGEN said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur colleagues remain suspended from the Johnson Matthey site, and while a collective consultation process is underway as a result, it is important to stress that no final decisions have been made.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are following our internal processes carefully and fairly and are continuing to engage with affected colleagues and their representatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unions GMB and Unite have alleged poor ventilation, grinding of paint with carcinogenic properties, lack of cold weather clothing, frozen pipes and no running water.<\/p>\n
Johnson Matthey told Construction News<\/em> that all reported issues were \u201cmitigated swiftly\u201d, including the monitoring of the air quality by an independent third party and portable heating systems being installed during planned site maintenance on the boiler system.<\/p>\nBut John Colquhoun, GMB senior organiser, said: \u201cUnions are still being denied access and staff morale is very low.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are urging Johnson Matthey to reinstate site passes to all affected members and to work with us and the other contractors to improve conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Hinchliff, MP for North East Hertfordshire, urged the parties to work together to find a solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cConstruction sites should have the highest standards of health and safety, and whistleblowing ought to be applauded, not punished,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI urge all parties involved to work together on securing a swift and fair resolution to this as a matter of urgency, lifting any suspensions and addressing outstanding issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson Matthey said it welcomed official visits to assess conditions at the site.<\/p>\n
\u201cSafety is our number one priority and we take all possible steps to make sure workers have a secure working environment,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe welcome official visits to site to see the conditions where hundreds of workers across many contractor groups are happy to be contributing to this important project.\u201d<\/p>\n
The employees had been working on a project to create a new plant to replace an existing Platinum Group Metals refinery on the same site as Johnson Matthey\u2019s \u00a380m hydrogen gigafactory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seven construction workers who were suspended after downing tools at a refinery job over health and safety concerns will not be returning to the site. The employees were among a group of 30 suspended in December from client Johnson Matthey\u2019s project, with unions alleging \u201cunsafe\u201d working conditions. The 30 workers were employed by contractors BGEN …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155153,"featured_media":432614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[581,578],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-536079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-safety","category-legal"],"yoast_head":"\n
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