Health and safety

Health and safety breach litigation can have grave consequences. Average fines increase year on year and are likely to increase exponentially in cases arising from deaths in the workplace. Reputation and share price damage is also a significant issue for our clients.

Our lawyers understand this context and are well practised in ensuring that businesses and individuals are properly defended from all of these potential threats.

It is vital that any organisation has the correct health and safety policies in place.

Our health and safety solicitors can provide you with advice on all aspects of health and safety law to ensure that you have the proper policies in place to protect your organisation from a health and safety breach.

We can provide the following services:

• provision of ad hoc or regular updating advice as to the sufficiency of health and safety documentation;
• advice on the applicability of new law to your business;
• advice on health and safety management structures and chains of responsibility; and
• If required, we can also provide training on health and safety law and the consequences of a health and safety breach.

A health and safety breach can have a detrimental effect on your business. Our health and safety solicitors have a wealth of experience in health and safety law matters. We are well practised in ensuring that businesses and individuals are properly defended from all of the potential threats of a health and safety breach.

We can provide the following services:

• First Response
  Immediate deployment on site when serious accidents occur. Responsive focused strategic planning and action to take the matter forward and resolve it with least damage to your business.
• Investigation support
  Representation throughout the interview process. Often including the preparation of detailed statements.
• Averting prosecution
  Making representations to the prosecutor with a view to averting prosecution entirely or limiting its scope.
• Ancillary proceedings
  Representation of companies and key individuals as interested persons during inquests and coroners’ inquiries and public enquiries.
• Defence at court
  – of corporate defendant
  – of key individuals
  – of managers (S.7 & 37)
• Support following proceedings
  – press relations/management
  – re-drafting of documentation
  – linked services from other specialist teams such as employment and defendant insurance litigation

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, which came into force on 6 April 2008, means that companies and organisations can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter as a consequence of significant management failures resulting in a gross breach of a duty of care.

If your organisation has been accused of corporate manslaughter it is essential to take legal advice as early as possible. Our health and safety solicitors have the experience and skills needed to best advise you on your options. We can assist you throughout the investigation from the day of the incident until the investigation reaches its conclusion.

We deal with the full spectrum of health and safety matters throughout England and Wales.

Recent cases include:

• a multiple fatality Legionnaires outbreak at a leading UK hotel;
• a multiple fatality carbon monoxide poisoning;
• multiple deaths of elderly residents at a care home;
• matters involving specialist legislation such as the quarry regulations;
• a public enquiry arising from a notorious food safety incident;
• a current investigation conducted under the new Corporate Manslaughter Act; and
• current Section 7 and 37 prosecutions of individual managers and directors.