ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV

Quantity surveyors employed by Australian contractor Multiplex warned the company's directors six months ago that they had serious safety concerns with PC Harrington, the concrete contractor on its Wembley National Stadium project.

Five months later, Patrick O'Sullivan, 54, a PC Harrington employee, was killed in an accident at the stadium site.

ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV can reveal that an internal meeting attended by seven Multiplex QSs was held on 28 August 2003 to review the performance of PC Harrington. In the minutes of the meeting, which have been seen by ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV, the QS said that the question of safety was a "serious concern".

The minutes were copied to Multiplex managers, including managing director Paul Gandy.

ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV cannot go into details of these allegations for legal reasons. PC Harrington refused to comment.

Multiplex said that the information in question resulted from a meeting of QSs with no direct responsibility for safety or on site management. It issued a statement to ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV saying that none of the QSs was qualified to make any judgments on safety.

The statement continued: "The meeting was organised to prepare an initial confidential contract checklist of commercial items for the proposed White City project, routine for such a project." It added that the minutes were the author's own personal summary of the discussion and did not reflect the view of Multiplex.

The statement said Multiplex had confidence in the safety records of and procedures used by all its contractors. It said: "PC Harrington remains a valued construction partner and continues to have our unequivocal support."

The company said that safety on its sites was "paramount" and that "strict procedures and checks, both internal and external, are in place to ensure that contractors fully meet and continue to adhere to our exacting standards".

Kevin Myers, the HSE's chief construction inspector, said: "We would be happy to see any information that can aid the investigation into O'Sullivan's death."