Island Energy workers began receiving “regular supervision” only after the explosion at the Haut du Mont block of flats and before the disaster there had not been the same level of oversight, an employee has told the Royal Court trial.
As the trial into the 2022 Haut du Mont explosion entered its second week, Luke Le Brocq said that he had been “inexperienced and unqualified” assistant at the time and was working alongside the gas engineers involved in the work at Commercial Buildings the day before the blast.
Giving evidence, he said that external supervisors from the UK were brought in following the incident to oversee the work of Island Energy’s employees.
“There was regular supervision after the explosion. Before [the explosion] there wasn’t,” he told jurors.
Neil Armstrong (58), John Wright (60) and Lee Ward (59) each deny ten counts of gross-negligence manslaughter – one for each of those who died following the blast on Saturday 10 December 2022.
Jersey Gas, which trades as Island Energy, also denies two alleged breaches of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989.
Responding to questions about changes made after the explosion, Mr Le Brocq said workers began receiving detailed written instructions that set out how a particular job should be carried out.
These documents, which would be signed off by an authorised engineer, had not been seen by Mr Le Brocq in his four-month-long tenure as an assistant before the explosion – describing their introduction as “quite a significant change”.
The court also heard last week that the company had a ‘red card’ system in place that employees could use to stop work if they felt unsafe or if asked to do something that they did not agree with.
But yesterday, Mr Le Brocq described the system as “a paper policy rather than being successful in practice”.
Mr Le Brocq was also asked about his experience of working with each of the defendants.
Mr Armstrong, the network officer in charge of the job, was described as “aggressive” and “a bit of a bully”.
Mr Le Brocq said he ‘”got along well with” team leader Mr Wright – the man who cut the pipe that morning and that he “felt safe” with him.
Mr Ward, who was the duty worker who arrived later to take over the job, was described as “especially cautious” and “meticulous” with “very high standards”.
The trial, which is expected to last two months, continues.
