The provision follows new sentencing guidelines introduced earlier this year, which specify that courts are to focus on the organisation’s annual turnover when considering a fine.

In May, these new guidelines saw Balfour Beatty fined £2.6m after a worker was crushed to death by a collapsed trench in April 2010.

In a half-year results statement, Balfour said: “…[This fine] demonstrates the increasingly heavy financial consequences for failures to meet the necessary safety and environmental standards.”

Despite these potential losses, Balfour announced that the firm had entered the black with an underlying pre-tax profit of £7m.

This figure was a significant improvement on the £130m loss posted for the same period last year.

Balfour also achieved a reduction in the lost time injury rate, indicating greater staff engagement on safety.