The defendant company appealed against its conviction under the 1974 Act after a driver was buried under the load when his truck overturned on a work-site.
Held: The appeal failed. The policy of the 1974 Act was to impose a positive burden on employers, rather than simply disciplining them for the breach of specific obligations. That being so, the prosecution was entitled simply to point to a state of affairs as amounting to a breach of the statutory duty. The risk which the prosecution must prove should be real as opposed to a fanciful or hypothetical. The relevant risk here was the risk of injury caused by driving the dumper truck. That this was a real risk was established by the fact that there was an accident. That was sufficient to justify the requirement that the first and second appellants should have the burden of proving that they had done all that was reasonably practicable to protect against that risk.
Judges:
Latham LJ, Gibbs and Jones JJ
Citations:
[2007] EWCA Crim 3032, [2008] ICR 517, [2008] 2 All ER 1077
Links:
Statutes:
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 37
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Chargot Limited (T/A Contract Services) and Others, Regina v HL 10-Dec-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 . .
Cited – Regina v Porter CACD 19-May-2008
Everyday risks may be outwith Health and Safety
The defendant appealed against his conviction under the 1974 Act. He was headmaster at a private school. A child of three jumped from steps in the playground injured his head and was taken to hospital where he contracted MRSA and died.
Held: . .
Appeal pending – N Ltd and Another, Regina v CACD 10-Jun-2008
The defence had requested and been give a ruling of no case to answer. The prosecutor now appealed saying that this had been before he had closed the prosecution case, and had been not with his consent.
Held: The prosecutor’s appeal succeeded. . .
Appeal from – Chargot Limited (T/A Contract Services) and Others, Regina v HL 10-Dec-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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime, Health and Safety
Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.278932