Covid-19 has caused many things a deluge of concerns, rules, guidance, information, action plans. All this has raised some recurring questions: What are our health and safety criminal law obligations in dealing with the coronavirus? What do we have to do? How can we protect ourselves from blame if we get it wrong? As...
Coronavirus has dominated the headlines and amongst all this some commentators have speculated that employers may be about to face prosecution if they don’t take all Covid-19 precautions possible to protect staff and third parties from infection. Now it is correct to say that employers in the UK owe duties under the Health and Safety at...
This tragic story really horrified us – our hearts immediately went out to the man’s family. Our second reaction was frustration. This should never have happened. Not only was it entirely avoidable – clearly a proper risk assessment wasn’t in place – but it had happened before. Someone, somewhere, knew the risk and did nothing...
“Risk assessment” – yes we know, these words make your eyes roll, you want to yawn and your instinct is to run to the kitchen to make a strong coffee. Well, we sympathise. via GIPHY It’s not a fun task for any company. We just see so many cases that could simply have been avoided...
Where there’s blame there’s a claim, right? Sigh. In my day, if you fell down you got back up – you didn’t try to sue the tree whose stick you just tripped over. Times change – and there’s also this thing called common sense. If you have a company that uses dangerous machines, you...
After Deloitte was hit by a cyber security attack earlier this week, we have to ask, how safe are we? We at Ferguson Legal care more about health and safety than your average UK citizen. So we need to suggest that IT security be considered under the health and safety banner. If one of...
A property developer and a foreman have been jailed for manslaughter following the death of a carpenter on a site in Brighton. Michael Holland, 69 and foreman Grant Oakes, 46, had each denied charges of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the death. 55-year-old carpenter David Clark died on October 28, 2014, following an...
If you have been subject to a Fee For Intervention bill and wished you had challenged it, read on! We recently explored the Judicial Review case of HSE’s Fee For Intervention dispute process. A consequence was the HSE agreed to look at changing the process for challenging such fees. (It entered into a legal agreement with...
A risk assessment must be carried out by “competent persons” in ALL companies, no matter how big or small. This is a legal requirement under the European health and safety legislation (commonly known as the “six pack”). In the UK it is the Management, Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 which requires all...
If, like us, you’re delighted Great British Bake Off is back on TV, you may have noticed that Kate Lyon, one of the contestants, is a health and safety inspector… We love a bit of health and safety chat at Ferguson Legal so here’s a little blog we prepared earlier. Dig in! Beware the...
A worker suffered multiple serious injuries when a trolley carrying hydraulic rams toppled on its side and trapped him between it and a stillage. DHL and JCB have both been fined in relation to the incident, which happened on 16 October 2013. Stafford Crown Court was told how the DHL employee was auditing in-coming...
Working alone is a known health and safety red flag area, as one company found to its cost recently. An Exeter-based water treatment firm was fined £1.8 million after a lone worker drowned at one of its plants just after Christmas. The tragedy could have been prevented and it’s likely the sizeable fine reflected...
On 23 June 2016, the British people voted to leave the European Union, signalling a momentous change to Britain’s political and economic landscape. No European Union Member State has ever left the EU so the process of withdrawal is untested. A successful Brexit will involve disentangling the UK from complex politico-legal, financial and other...
Ferguson Legal has examined the impact Brexit is likely to have on various industry sectors such as construction; health and safety; procurement; sustainability and environment; employment and bribery and corruption. In part 1, we will look at the likely consequences for the Construction sector and what you can do to protect your company. No...
First test case applied English guidelines to Scottish case Case was an appeal against a fine for health and safety breach The fine was reduced from £1.5m to £1.2m The case concerned a scalding at a work premises Implications remain to be seen The High Court has concluded that, for health and safety...
It will be interesting to see whether the recent fine of £5 million on the operator of Alton Towers has any influence on the future approach to be taken by Scottish courts in health and safety sentencing. Following an accident that took place at a power station in Fife where their employee suffered scalding...
Dear Carole We are all under huge pressure to check our fleet management software at certain points of the day. I’ve found that keeping the iPad in the cab with me and checking it while I’m at a red light or stuck in slow moving traffic is the only solution. I’m guessing this probably...
HGV drivers are frequently putting lives at risk by not following basic safety procedures when coupling and uncoupling vehicles, the Health and Safety Executive have warned. The workplace health and safety regulator urged drivers to apply parking brakes and use (or retrofit) warning alarms to avoid a repeat of an incident in January 2015...
Leedale Limited, a waste management and plant hire company in Derbyshire, was fined £300,000 after a worker was fatally crushed between two vehicles. Derby Crown Court heard how 39-year-old Matthew Lambert was refuelling his road sweeper at the Company’s yard. The refuelling point on the vehicle was at the rear; whilst he was refuelling a...
A company has been fined £2.6 million after an employee was killed when the trench he was working in collapsed in on him. On the 14 April 2010, Mr Sim, a sub-contractor working on behalf of Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Limited, was laying ducting for new cable for an offshore windfarm that was being built...
A food waste disposal and recycling firm has been fined £250,000 following three employees becoming overcome by toxic gases (including hydrogen sulphide) and a reduced oxygen atmosphere whilst working in an animal waste facility. This prosecution comes 12 months after the firm was fined £660,000 following the death of an employee. The previous conviction resulted after a...
Frozen Food giant McCain Foods (GB) Limited has been fined £800,000 for safety failings after an employee nearly lost his arm. Peterborough Crown Court heard how 34-year-old employee, Adam Regan, was checking the condition of a conveyor belt when his arm became entangled and was almost severed. Although his arm was saved, he now has limited...
Bonfire night has been and gone; with the news of several firework events being cancelled due to bad weather it got us thinking – doesn’t happen often we agree but it did – about fireworks, health & safety and children. Anyway, fireworks and bonfires are inherently dangerous and quite often people, mainly kids, forget this....
Offshore oil and gas is often thought of as being one of the most dangerous and high risk areas to work in. Well, is this true? Let’s have a look at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) annual Offshore Statistics & Regulatory Activity Report 2015 (“Report”). This Report tells us how the industry has performed...
Let’s be honest, most people do not take health & safety serious until something happens, correct? We are not accusing you of this, but like most fast paced lifestyles nobody stops to take heed until the pleeeeep hits the fan. This was one of the thoughts behind the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act...
Here at Ferguson Legal, we often report on #besafe and the importance of complying with health and safety, but the latest high profile case to bring this theory into reality is that of Harrison Ford on the set on Star Wars – The Force Awakens. The unfortunate title of the film allows for many...
From the outset it was always the ambition of Carole Ferguson, Managing Director of Ferguson Legal to showcase the fun and savvy side of the world of law, with a new, fresh and innovative approach giving a tongue and cheek style to hard hitting stories allowing everyone to relate which may have otherwise not...