Fire enforcement notice served on Hinkley Point JV

Already facing two separate prosecutions for health & safety failings at Hinkley Point C, main contractor Bylor JV has now been slapped with a fire enforcement notice.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has served a fire enforcement notice on Bylor JV (Laing O'Rourke and Bouygues Travaux Publics) after identifying significant fire safety shortfalls at the Hinkley Point C nuclear construction site.

Following a fire safety intervention, ONR inspectors identified that Bylor had failed to implement appropriate arrangements for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of preventive and protective measures.

Many of the Bylor buildings on the Somerset site are currently at an advanced stage of construction and these shortfalls resulted in inadequate general fire precautions, including a lack of an adequate emergency lighting system, the ONR said.

Bylor is a joint venture of Bouygues Travaux Publics and Laing O'Rourke, delivering HPC's main civil engineering works.

Ray Cassar, ONR’s fire safety inspector said:  “Fire safety is fundamental to protecting workers and the public at nuclear construction sites. Our inspectors found that fire safety arrangements at the Hinkley Point C site did not meet the standards we require, particularly given the scale and complexity of the ongoing construction work. We also took into account several similar findings from previous inspections.

“We will work with Bylor JV to ensure they put proper systems in place to manage fire risks effectively and prevent similar issues arising in future."

The enforcement action has been served under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

There were no consequences to employees, the public or the environment as a result of the shortfalls, the ONR said; however, it identified the potential for harm and risk of serious injury, which required regulatory action.

The improvements must  be completed by 30^th June 2026. In the meantime, Bylor JV is expected to manage the risk profile accordingly.

Bylor is already facing prosecution by ONR in two other cases related to health and safety incidents at Hinkley Point C. The first prosecution, announced in July 2025, relates to a fatality that occurred on site in November 2022, with charges also against NNB Generation Company (HPC) Ltd.

The second prosecution, announced in August 2025, involves a serious injury in August 2022 when a rebar mesh wall fell on a worker. The first hearing of a prosecution for this accident against Bylor's parent companies, Bouygues Travaux Publics and Laing O'Rourke, will be held at Bristol Magistrates Court on Monday 15^th December 2025.