An offence was committed under the Act unless the company takes all reasonable steps to protect its employees. Citations: Times 02-Jan-1997 Statutes: Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 2(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Health and Safety Updated: 04 November 2022; Ref: scu.86683
Citations: [1997] 3 All ER 78, [1997] 2 Cr App R 40, [1997] Crim LR 512, [1997] ICR 382, [1997] IRLR 189, [1996] EWCA Crim 1768 Statutes: Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 2(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Crime, Health and Safety Updated: 08 October 2022; Ref: scu.149432
The appellant had been convicted that as a haulage contractor he had conspired with his drivers to cause them to drive beyond the permitted hours, and in other ways contrary to their safety. He argued it was a misuse of the Act to ally it with the more severe Transport Act regime. That appeal was … Continue reading Regina v Francois Pierre Marcellin Thoron: CACD 30 Jul 2001
The company had contracted to remove asbestos. Before work was to start, the inspector found defective equipment. The prosecutor appealed the acquittal on appeal to the Crown Court. Held: An employer’s duty of care extends to all employees, and not just those working on a particular plant and even when the plant was not in … Continue reading Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council v Malrod Insulations Ltd: QBD 6 Jan 1993
The complainant was a female lorry driver, aged 23, employed by a firm specialising in the carriage of chemicals. One chemical was potentially embryotoxic, and the manufacturers warned that special precautions should be taken to avoid women of child-bearing age being exposed to it. The employers therefore refused to allow the complainant to drive lorries … Continue reading Page v Freight Hire (Tank Haulage) Ltd: EAT 1981
Health and Safety summons was not duplicitous despite absence of detailed allegation. Citations: Times 09-Dec-1996 Statutes: Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 2(1) 2(2) Health and Safety Updated: 08 April 2022; Ref: scu.81293
The appellant company argued that the conviction was unsafe because the prosecution against it by the Health and Safety Executive should have been stayed as an abuse of process. . .
Liable Operator was the person noified The company, a joint venture enterprise, appealed against a refusal to stay prosecutions for various infringements when a fuel depot they were said to control (the Buncefield oil terminal) exploded. The company denied that they were the operator as required within the law. Held: The operator was the person … Continue reading Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd v Regina: CACD 16 Mar 2010
Judges: Lord Justice Latham Citations: [2006] EWCA Crim 1156, [2006] ICR 1383, [2007] 2 All ER 665 Links: Bailii Statutes: Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 2(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Crime, Health and Safety Updated: 29 September 2022; Ref: scu.242124
The defendants did not warn a contractor’s workmen of the risk of fire from an oxygen-enriched atmosphere. As a result, one of them accidentally started a fire in which eight employees died. Held: The employers were convicted under section 2(1). The duty under that section includes an obligation to take such steps as are reasonably … Continue reading Regina v Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Ltd: CA 1982
The Commission sought a declaration that, by restricting the duty of employers to care for the health and safety of their employees ‘so far as reasonably practicable’, the United Kingdom had failed to fulfil its obligations under article 5(1) and (4) of Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to … Continue reading Commission v United Kingdom (Social Policy): ECJ 18 Jan 2007
The claimant appealed dismissal of her claim for personal injuries. She worked at a nursing home, and had slipped on urine on the floor. Slip mats had been placed on the floor, but had been insufficient. There had been previous accidents, and a risk assessment had identified the dangers, and steps taken. The claim was … Continue reading Ellis v Bristol City Council: CA 5 Jul 2007
The defendant had been charged with attempting to obtain property by deception by fabricating his death by drowning in the sea off Miami in Florida. The final act alleged to constitute the offence occurred outside the jurisdiction of the English courts. Held: The charge was justiciable in England. The defendant appealed conviction on counts of … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Stonehouse: HL 1977
The deceased worked for the defendants on an oil rig. He was injured by a door closer he was attempting to repair. The defendants denied that the mechanism was equipment within the Regulations. Held: The appeal was allowed. The door closer was apparatus for use at work, though provided by a different company. The Regulations … Continue reading Spencer-Franks v Kellogg Brown and Root Ltd and others: HL 2 Jul 2008
The victim died on a farm when his dumper truck overturned burying him in its load. Held: The prosecutor needed to establish a prima facie case that the results required by the Act had not been achieved. He need only establish that a risk of injury arose out of the state of affairs at the … Continue reading Chargot Limited (T/A Contract Services) and Others, Regina v: HL 10 Dec 2008
The claimant asserted associative disability discrimination. She was the carer for her disabled son.
Held: To succeed the claimant would have to show that associative discrimination was prohibited by the directive and that the 1995 Act could . .
