Work halted on Everton stadium construction following fatality on site

Work on the stadium, which is being built in a former dock, has been suspended while investigations are undertaken by Merseyside Police and the Health & Safety Executive.

A spokesperson for Laing O’Rourke said: “We can confirm that a member of our team, who was carrying out work for one of our sub-contractors, was seriously injured in an incident yesterday. He was taken to hospital via ambulance, where he sadly died.

“We are shocked and saddened by today’s tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased man and our wider project team.

“The police and the Health and Safety Executive are on site and we have suspended work until further notice. We will cooperate fully with any investigation that follows.”

A Tweet from Merseyside Police confirmed that the incident happened at around 1pm on 14 August and involved a 26 year old man.

Everton Football Club issued a statement following the incident to say that everyone at the club “is heartbroken by the news”. “The thoughts and condolences of everyone connected with Everton are with his family, friends, and colleagues at this unimaginably sad time,” it said in the statement.

No details have been released about what element of the construction the man was involved in at the time of the incident. However, recent videos released of the construction show that work was progressing on installing the cantilever tips for the roof on the west stand. The club had just marked the second anniversary of construction starting on the new £500M stadium by Laing O’Rourke which has used modular techniques to overcome site challenges and improve site productivity.

At the end of July, Everton Football Club had said that work was on schedule and was expected to be completed “in the final months of 2024”.

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