Johnson Matthey hydrogen gigafactory dispute: safety lessons for project teams
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
More than 30 construction workers have been suspended from Johnson Matthey’s £80m, government-backed hydrogen gigafactory site in Hertfordshire after refusing to work under what Unite describes as worsening dangerous conditions. Alleged breaches include no running water or heating, lack of cold-weather PPE, and inadequate ventilation while grinding paint containing carcinogens, with the site already shut for two weeks over health and safety concerns and Unite linking the situation to two suicides. Johnson Matthey, and contractors BGEN and Bilfinger, reject the claims, while Unite is pressing for immediate HSE intervention and site access.
Technical Brief
- £80m hydrogen gigafactory build involves Johnson Matthey as client with BGEN and Bilfinger as contractors.
- More than 30 construction workers have been suspended following refusal to work under disputed conditions.
- Unite links site management and contractor behaviour to two separate worker suicides during the project.
- Alleged lack of running water and heating contravenes basic welfare requirements under UK construction regulations.
- Grinding of paint “containing carcinogens” without adequate ventilation raises potential COSHH and RPE compliance issues.
- Absence of cold‑weather PPE is cited despite outdoor construction exposure during winter conditions.
- Unite is demanding immediate HSE attendance and union site access to support members and verify conditions.
Our Take
With more than 100 Safety‑tagged pieces in our database, this dispute at Johnson Matthey’s hydrogen gigafactory stands out as one of the few involving a government‑backed project of this scale in the UK, which is likely to sharpen HSE and political scrutiny of site practices.
An £80m public‑supported facility in Hertfordshire experiencing worker suspensions signals potential programme risk for the UK’s hydrogen manufacturing ambitions, where delivery timelines are already tight to align with national decarbonisation targets.
Contractor‑side issues at a high‑profile clean‑energy build will be closely watched by other UK infrastructure operators, as similar AMP8 and retrofit frameworks in our coverage show clients increasingly factoring labour relations and safety performance into future tender evaluations.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Construction
Quality control software for construction companies with material testing, batch tracking, and compliance management.
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
QCDB-io
Comprehensive quality control database for manufacturing, tunnelling, and civil construction with UCS testing, PSD analysis, and grout mix design management.