Health & Safety and Regulatory Law Update

Our aim is to provide a brief but regular update as to recent events both in the specific area of Health & Safety and also in the wider field of Regulatory Law. We intend to include what we hope will be interesting articles as well as summaries of important or useful recent cases, often featuring members of our set.

Crown Office Chambers is widely recognised as a leading set in Health & Safety and Regulatory Law, enjoying a strong reputation in all forms of regulatory law including criminal defence work, major public inquiries and inquests. Chambers boasts a dedicated team of both Queens Counsel and junior counsel who between them have a vast array of experience, having been involved in some of the leading cases concerning these highly specialised areas of law. Members of this specialist team regularly appear in high-profile cases and advise government departments, companies and local authorities. The group consists of experienced, specialist advocates providing practical and effective advice to clients charged with regulatory offences. For more information on our Health & Safety and Regulatory Law work, please click here.

News

Pochins fined following fatal fall
Construction company Pochins was prosecuted by the HSE under s.3 of the HSWA 1974 in relation to a fatal accident that occurred on a construction site at which the Defendant company was the Principal Contractor.
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Corporate Manslaughter Bill – the clock is ticking
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill, which has been 10 years in the making and is considered a flagship piece of New Labour legislation, is once again under threat.
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Network Rail fined £4m
Network Rail has been fined £4m for safety breaches leading to the Paddington rail crash in October 1999 in which 31 people were killed. The fine becomes one of the highest imposed for breaches of health and safety legislation.
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Articles

INQUESTS: Current Developments
by James Maxwell-Scott
The most significant current development remains the Government’s plans to reform the coronial system. This article will therefore primarily focus on the Government’s current plans for reform. It will also outline some significant recent cases.
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Case Summaries – Health & Safety

Regina v Clifton Steel Limited
Court of Appeal (Crim Div) (Toulson LJ, Walker J, Judge Wadsworth QC, 13th June 2007
The Court of Appeal held it was serious cases only, that fines exceed £100,000 and having considered the number of cases in which health and safety breaches had resulted in a death, the Court found that only 3.6 per cent of those liable were ordered to pay sums of £150,000 or more.
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HSE v R.L.Davies & Son Limited & Permanent Flooring Limited
Mold Crown Court (HHJ Dafydd Hughes), 18th June 2007
Prosecution of two companies following the electrocution of two sub-contractors’ employees (ground workers) who were holding the extended rubber pipe of a concrete pump when the boom connecting the pipe to the pump came into contact with 11, 000 volt overhead power lines. Both workers were injured, one (aged 19) fatally.
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Westminster City Council v KONE Plc
Southwark Crown Court (HHJ Rivlin QC), 13th April 2007
The Company had been charged under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act with a safety breach arising from the death of an employee in a lift shaft. Defending Counsel successfully argued that a Senior Environmental Health Officer could not give opinion evidence in relation to general Health and Safety systems in the context of an industry-specific incident.
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HSE v Sekon Glassware, Barretts Glass & Glazing Ltd
City of London Magistrates Court, 29th March 2007
The Defendant companies pleaded guilty to section 2(1) of the HSWA 1974 in relation to an accident in which a heavily overladen A-frame of glass, weighing approx 2000 kg, tipped over crushing an employee and shattering the glass product contents. The employee suffered a fractured pelvis, crushed vertebrae and the loss of a kidney.
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HSE v RPTC
Bolton Crown Court (HHJ Brown), 13th March 2007
The Defendants were principal contractors on a construction site. A fork lift truck was being used to carry pallets of bricks/blocks into an enclosed site. The mast struck a beam upon which was resting a 2 ton pack of floor steels. The pack fell approx 4 meters striking an employee standing below and causing fatal injuries.
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South Tyneside Council v Robert Horne Group Limited
South Tyneside Magistrates Court, 9th March 2007
The prosecution was brought under s.3 of the HSWA 1974 in relation to a fatal accident that occurred at the Defendant’s warehouse premises. The Defendant is a substantial logistics and distribution company which owns warehousing throughout the UK. Its annual profit before tax is in excess of £1m.
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HSE v J. Pao & Co. Ltd
City of London Magistrates Court, 20th February 2007
The Defendant Company ran a beansprout production factory, part of the process for which included the use of drying machines. An employee was washing down the drier when a hose he was using became caught in an unguarded chain and sprocket drive, dragging his arm into the machine and causing the traumatic amputation of three fingers of his (dominant) right hand.
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HSE v T O’Connor (Security Services) Ltd
Plymouth Crown Court (HHJ Leeming), 5th February 2007
The Defendant Company was charged under s2 HSWA. During the course of a removal from a former bank premises a safe (weighing 2 tonnes) fell from height, crushing an employee and causing fatal injuries.
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HSE v BUPA Care Homes (Frome Magistrates Court, 2nd February 2007)
The Defendant pleaded guilty to charges under s3 HSWA and r4 PUWER. The case concerned an accident in which an 80-year-old female resident died after being trapped in a set of bed rails. The prosecution alleged a failure to follow bed rail policy, a poor risk assessment and inadequate staff training.
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Oxford City Council v JJB Sports
Oxford Magistrates Court, 26th January 2007
The Defendant company was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to an offence under s3 HSWA after a customer suffered a head injury when trapped between a moving handrail and the ceiling above an escalator.
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Isle Of Wight Council v Matalan Retail
Newport Crown Court (Mr Recorder Martineau), 11th January 2007
The prosecution followed an incident at the Defendant company’s store on the Isle of Wight. A customer was being driven into the store car park when the car in which she was travelling collided with an unsecured swing barrier located at the car park entrance. The barrier shattered the car windscreen and struck the customer’s head causing injury.
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HSE v JFD Utilities Ltd
Harrogate Magistrates Court, 20th December 2006
Prosecution under s3 HSWA in respect of a fatal injury. A construction worker died after being struck by a car during road works. It was alleged that temporary traffic lights should have been in place.
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HSE v Lightwater Valley Attractions Ltd
Leeds Crown Court (Mr Justice Simon), 8th December 2006
Prosecution brought under s.3 of the HSWA 1974 in relation to a fatal accident that occurred on a roller coaster ride at the Defendant’s amusement park.
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HSE v DH
Sheffield Magistrates Court, 3rd November 2006
The Defendant, a 54-year-old man, was employed as a site safety manager at steel manufacturer Outokumpu’s Sheffield premises. Due to a number of factors, DH allowed two visiting crane engineers to start work on a job for which no permits had been issued. A crane operative failed to notice the presence of the engineers and whilst moving the crane struck an engineer causing him to fall and sustain injury.
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HSE v BUPA Care Homes (Southwark Crown Court, 7th September 2006)
Southwark Crown Court (HHJ Tester), 7th September 2006
A 95-year-old female resident of Defendant’s care home fractured her shoulder when slipping from a hoist as she was being helped from a bath. She died four days later from pneumonia while awaiting surgery.
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HSE v Southern Cross Healthcare Group plc
Stafford Crown Court (HHJ Eades), 16th February 2007
Southern Cross Healthcare Group Plc has been fined £175,000 after the death of a resident in one of its nursing homes.
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HSE v Hanton & Wardrop Joinery
Norwich Crown Court (Mr Recorder Ayers), 12th April 2007
Prosecution relating to an injury to an employee who lost his finger in a joinery machine. Similar accidents had happened in the past, but went unheeded. Prosecution alleged that it would have cost very little to provide guards and that the system of work was unsafe. The case was brought against the company and against the Director who had responsibility for health and safety.
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Case Summaries – Regulatory

Environment Agency v Oakham Environmental Waste & Recycling Centre
Dudley Magistrates Court, 19th April 2007
The Defendant company operated a waste recycling centre which was governed by the terms of a Waste Management Licence. The Defendant was prosecuted under s33(6) EPA 1990 in respect of the three breaches and also under s34(5) EPA 1990 for failing to disclose documents requested by the Environment Agency officials.
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DEFRA v Various Kilkeel Fishermen
Liverpool Crown Court (HHJ Gilmour QC), 11th & 12th January 2007
DEFRA prosecution of the majority of the fishing fleet of Kilkeel. Vessels, their owners and masters (24 Defendants in all) were charged in respect of ‘black fish’ landings said by the prosecution to be worth in excess of £1m.
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Regina (Environment Agency) v Thames Water Utilities
Second Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, 25th May 2007
In a judgment published on 25th May 2007, the Second Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Communities (on a reference for a preliminary ruling by the QBD on questions on the interpretation of Council Directive 75/442/EEC as amended) held that waste water which accidentally escaped from a sewage system was discarded by the sewerage management undertaking and was waste within the EC Waste Directive.
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