Category: Court Cases

HGV drivers are being warned to follow basic safety procedures when coupling and uncoupling vehicles following the death of a 20-year-old road worker. HSE leaders are urging drivers to apply parking brakes and use (or retrofit) warning alarms to avoid a repeat of a fatal incident in January 2015. Road worker Dale Pentney was crushed […]

Renovation disaster as £700k house in Lewisham collapses during building work The renovation of a £700,000 house bought as a ‘doer-upper’ in south-east London turned into a nightmare when it collapsed during building work. Neighbours said it sounded “like a bomb had gone off” when part of the terraced house, reportedly bought just six months […]

Renovation disaster as £700k house in Lewisham collapses during building work The renovation of a £700,000 house bought as a ‘doer-upper’ in south-east London turned into a nightmare when it collapsed during building work. Neighbours said it sounded “like a bomb had gone off” when part of the terraced house, reportedly bought just six months […]

Balfour Beatty fined £2.6m After Fatal Trench Collapse On 14 April 2010 Sim had climbed into one of the deepest parts of the trench, which had sheer sides, to connect two pieces of ducting when a large piece of the wall collapsed on him. Between 10 and 20 colleagues, including workers directly employed Balfour Beatty, […]

The 2016 Health and Safety Sentencing Guidelines: How Have Things Changed for Companies? On 1 February 2016, the new sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences came into force. They direct the courts to consider the sentencing of offending organisations by way of a step-by-step approach, primarily examining culpability, the seriousness of harm risked and […]

Alton Towers owners to face prosecution The owner of Alton Towers is to be prosecuted after a rollercoaster crash last year, which left five people seriously injured. Victoria Balch and Leah Washington had their legs amputated after the crash on 2 June 2015, when the Smiler rollercoaster ride hit an empty carriage in front of it. An […]

Cheshire Construction Company guilty of Bricklayer’s Death A Cheshire construction company has been prosecuted following a fatal accident in 2011 at a site in Wimslow. Liverpool Crown Court heard that Edgemere Projects Ltd of Tarporley, Cheshire, was the main contractor at a construction site in Wilmslow when on 7 January 2011, Andrew Dytiche aged 23, […]

New Construction Guidance to Stop Workers Dying Each Week from Occupational Disease The construction industry has launched new guidance to encourage better management of occupational health risks. HSE is urging the industry to put an end to the hundreds of construction workers that die of occupational diseases every month. Inspectors issued more than 200 health […]

‘Obvious’ Risk Ignored by Hotel Chocolat Hotel Chocolat, the Chocolate manufacturer, has been prosecuted after a worker suffered serious hand and arm injuries whilst cleaning a machine tank. Piotr Podgorski, 35, from Bretton, in Peterborough, was working as a cell supervisor for the company on 16 August 2014 when he was asked to clean the […]

Self-Employed Law Changes – 1st October 2015 Health and safety law will no longer apply to 1.7 million self-employed people tomorrow, following a recommendation from Professor Löfstedt in his review of health and safety law in the UK. In 2011, the Löfstedt Review recommended that self-employed people whose work activities pose no potential risk of […]