King’s Cross roof work continued after warnings, ending in fines for company and director

People were photographed working on a King’s Cross roof without edge protection, while another image showed an operative standing on a makeshift platform balanced on a stepladder. Those photographs, submitted by concerned members of the public, became important evidence in a workplace safety prosecution.

B&O Developers Ltd and its sole director, Sanjay Swaminarayan, were sentenced after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that workers had been exposed to falls from height during extension and refurbishment work at what is now the Kings Cross Express Inn on Kings Cross Road.

For people who witness apparently unsafe work, the case demonstrates the value of raising specific concerns with HSE. Here, photographs supplied by the public allowed the regulator to examine conditions at the site after earlier interventions had failed to secure sustained compliance.

By AtheneNet News Desk | Published 18 August 2026

What the public photographs showed

Members of the public sent photographs to HSE in January 2024 showing people working on the roof without measures intended to stop them falling, such as edge protection. Investigators also found there was no safe means of reaching the roof.

The workers were employed by a subcontractor. HSE established that controls to prevent falls were missing on at least two separate dates. The roofing subcontractor’s own risk assessment had identified safeguards, including scaffolding around the roof, but those measures were not in place.

The evidence was not the first indication of problems at the project. HSE inspectors had responded to several concerns raised by members of the public and occupants of surrounding buildings between November 2021 and September 2023. Enforcement action was taken against both Hubb Construction Ltd and B&O Developers Ltd.

Inspectors also met Swaminarayan to discuss improvements to the management arrangements needed for continued compliance with health and safety law. Despite those interventions, HSE received the further report about unsafe roof work in January 2024.

How responsibility for the site changed

The construction project ran from October 2020 until March 2024. It was initially managed by principal contractor Hubb Construction Ltd, where Swaminarayan was a director.

B&O Developers Ltd became the principal contractor in March 2023. Swaminarayan remained involved as the company’s sole director, while the other site arrangements stayed the same.

HSE inspector Lucy Ellison-Dunn said Swaminarayan had received guidance from both the regulator and his own health and safety advisers on several occasions. According to HSE, work was nevertheless allowed to continue without suitable fall-prevention controls despite assurances that practices would improve.

The fines imposed at court

B&O Developers Ltd, of Prince Albert Road in London, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. At City of London Magistrates’ Court on 22 July 2026, the company was fined £4,020 and ordered to pay a £1,608 surcharge.

Swaminarayan, 48, of St John’s Wood Court, pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 by virtue of Section 37(1). He was fined £2,300, ordered to pay an £1,108 surcharge and directed to pay £8,000 in costs.

HSE brought the prosecution, while the court determined the penalties. The regulator does not pass sentences, set sentencing guidelines or collect the fines imposed.

Why missing roof controls matter

Falls from height remain the leading cause of workplace death and injury. HSE’s latest statistics show that they accounted for more than a quarter of all work-related deaths in 2025/26.

HSE guidance says roof work requires, at minimum, safe access and a safe place from which to work. On sloping roofs, that usually requires full edge protection along every roof elevation where access is needed, as well as protection at gable ends. On steep roofs, the system must be capable of safely containing someone who slides down the slope.

In the King’s Cross case, investigators found neither safe access nor the controls identified as necessary in the subcontractor’s risk assessment. The prosecution followed repeated reports, enforcement activity and management discussions, ending with separate convictions for the principal contractor and its director.

Source context: This report is based on the Health and Safety Executive’s prosecution release dated 18 August 2026 and the court outcome recorded by the regulator.

Source: Health and Safety Executive Press Releases