Health & Safety

Health and safety laws are far-reaching, and non-compliance can be a criminal offence. At DJMS, our specialist criminal solicitors are experts in this complex and ever-evolving area, frequently defending a wide range of businesses, organisations, and individuals facing prosecution for health and safety failings.

What is health and safety law?

Most health and safety obligations arise under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Under the Act, employers are legally obliged to protect their employee’s health, safety, and welfare. The duty extends to people visiting the premises, such as clients and casual workers. Breaching your duties under the Act is a criminal offence for which you can be prosecuted.

Health and safety law applies to various entities, including:

• Employers.
• Self-employed individuals.
• Individual employees.

If an incident at work causes a person’s death, your organisation may face prosecution under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act. The Act applies to corporate bodies rather than individuals but does not affect the liability of directors and board members for gross negligence manslaughter or under health and safety law.

What constitutes a health and safety breach?

Examples of acts that can constitute a health and safety breach include:

• Employers failing to adequately train their employees on how to use equipment.
• Employers failing to undertake risk assessments.
• Employers failing to take measures to mitigate risk.
• Employers exposing workers to harmful chemicals.
• Workers failing to erect barriers around where they are working.

Crucially, to commit a health and safety offence, you need only fail to manage risks; you need not have caused any actual harm.

What are the penalties for health and safety breaches?

Health and safety breaches are investigated and prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or Environmental Health Officers (EHO) rather than the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. The HSE typically deals with high-risk premises like construction sites, whereas EHOs handle cases involving lower-risk environments such as offices.

The sentence for health and safety breaches depends on the nature of the offence and its severity. For example, where an organisation failed to protect the health and safety of its employees, the sentencing range is between a £50 and £10 million fine, although the fine can be unlimited. Where the accused is an individual, the maximum penalty is an unlimited fine, two years in prison, or both.

The Court will base the sentence on the circumstances of the case. For example, if you flagrantly disregarded the law, your sentence would be more severe than if you had made significant efforts to address the risk.

Are there any defences to health and safety breaches?

How we defend you for alleged health and safety breaches depends on the unique circumstances of your case. For example, an employer’s duty to ensure the health and safety of their workers is not absolute; it is a duty to take reasonable steps. A common defence is that the accused had made reasonable efforts to comply with their duties.

How can DJMS Solicitors help?

Being prosecuted for a health and safety offence is a business-critical issue that must be handled effectively to minimise reputational harm and protect your business’s future. At DJMS, our team of expert criminal lawyers have extensive experience defending organisations and individuals across all sectors facing health and safety prosecutions and is ideally placed to secure the very best outcome for you.

We can represent you at all stages of a health and safety investigation and prosecution, including requests for disclosure, interviews under caution, and trial. When your defence hinges on your assertions that you took reasonable steps to protect your employees, the onus is on you to prove that your actions were sufficient.

We’ll collate compelling evidence in support of your position, including CCTV records, risk assessments, training records, and equipment checks to build the most robust defence possible. We will also ensure that we assemble the best team of experts to provide evidence in the case.

Get in touch with DJMS Solicitors

Our lawyers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to provide immediate expert legal support whenever you need it.

For more information, or if you or your business are facing a regulatory investigation, please contact the team.