Five workers have been removed from the HS2 rail project after an air rifle was brought onto a site and fired by night-shift workers.
The incident took place at a West Ruislip site run by the Skanska, Costain and Strabag (SCS) joint venture.
SCS is responsible for building HS2’s 13.5km Northolt Tunnel between West Ruislip and Old Oak Common and the 7.2km Euston Tunnel, as part of a £4.2bn main works civil contract.
Video footage published by the Mail on Sunday shows night-shift workers firing the air rifle.
According to the newspaper, a whistleblower contacted HS2 and SCS in May 2025 to report the use of the air rifle on site.
He told the Mail on Sunday he felt his complaint was being ignored and subsequently contacted the government. Rail minister Lord Hendy then raised the issue with HS2.
SCS and HS2 investigated the incident, and five workers were removed from the project.
The rail body said it had overhauled site health and safety procedures in response to the “unacceptable” behaviour.
“HS2 Ltd takes all allegations of dangerous and unethical behaviour on our worksites extremely seriously, and incidents of this nature will not be tolerated,” it said.
“This was an unacceptable and isolated incident that took place around 18 months ago, and action was taken to dismiss individuals involved and overhaul health and safety processes on sites to ensure this couldn’t happen again.”
HS2 said it had also reviewed SCS’s handling of the incident.
“A number of changes have been implemented by SCS including increasing searches and monitoring compliance with the prohibited-items list, implementing workplace culture interventions and updating policies concerning health and safety and whistleblowers,” HS2 said.
“Changes have also been made to the leadership at SCS.”
SCS confirmed that it had increased searches for prohibited items across all its sites, including checks on people entering and leaving, as well as vehicles.
“We very much regret that a prohibited item made it onto site despite the extensive security protocols in place,” an SCS spokesperson said.
“Our security team attended the site and contacted the police when we were alerted to presence, but it had already been removed.
“We used the evidence presented to us to conduct a full and thorough investigation into the matters raised and appropriate action was taken once the full evidence was made available to us.”
SCS said it has “well-established processes” for reviewing all whistleblowing cases “sensitively” and encourages people to raise concerns at the earliest opportunity.
“The actions of the individuals involved were not in line with our values or policies and therefore they were removed from the project,” SCS added.
“This matter should not detract from the hard work and commitment put in by thousands of our dedicated people every day.”
HS2 has urged workers to report any incidents of concern.
“Direct reports from our workforce enable HS2 Ltd or our contractors to take prompt action. Anyone who sees unacceptable behaviour on our sites should speak out immediately and feel assured to do so in confidence via HS2’s Speak Out channels,” it said.
Last month Costain announced it had appointed Rohan O’Grady to take over the leadership of the team delivering the London-tunnels section of the SCS JV.
Lord Hendy has been contacted for comment.
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