'Management only listen if we take action like this': work on £200m energy plant halted by picket line

Around 300 workers gathered outside the £200m Energy Works site, with large numbers of police in attendance, from 5.30am.

It followed safety stand-downs last week over the lack of working alarms on the site, which workers say have still not been fully resolved.

They also said they wanted to be reimbursed for their time not at work.

"Unfortunately the only way management seem to listen is if we take action like this," said one worker, who didn't want to be named.

He said they had been raising issues over the fire alarm system not working properly for the past nine months.

They had been told on Monday the site was 100 per cent - but there was still an area which didn't have operable units, he said.

They had also raised minor but "niggling" issues like broken toilets and cabins with no drying gear through the proper channels to no avail.

The worker added: "The frustrating part is if we didn't take action nothing would be done - the fire alarms would not be working.

"If it was a school or a hotel you would expect things to be tested regularly or be 100 per cent operable because otherwise you wouldn't have people working there."

Another worker said there had been an evacuation a couple of weeks ago "where in certain areas the alarms were inaudible and some of the units weren't working."

There has been no statement from principal contractor M+W Group yet today.

Following a walkout last Thursday, Energy Works (Hull) Ltd issued a statement saying an independent health and safety audit last Wednesday “confirmed the site is being operated and controlled in a safe manner”. It added that M+W Group "anticipates a swift resolution to this matter, which will see the full resumption of works on site.