Legal Article
10/10/23
The debate on introducing legislation for the mandatory use of cycle helmets continues. According to the latest statistics from the DfT, there were 16,294 reported road traffic accidents involving pedal cyclists in 2020. Pedal cyclist casualties in 2020 stood at 12,472, with 141 fatalities, 4,…
Legal Article
10/10/23
A waste management firm has been fined a total of £3 million following the deaths of two workers in separate incidents. Michael Atkin and Mark Wheatley died following incidents in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated both incidents and…
Legal Article
18/08/23
The Environment Agency is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of numerous regulatory and criminal offences. As an alternative to criminal prosecution, financial sanctions can be imposed under the guidelines of the Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) Order 2010. In an announcement…
Legal Article
18/08/23
Plymouth City Council has been fined £200,000 after its failures led to employees developing hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). During 2017 - 2019, two council employees developed HAVS and a further four were diagnosed with CTS as a result of prolonged and…
Legal Article
18/08/23
On the 6 July 2023 the HSE published the work related fatality figures. They report that one hundred and thirty-five workers were killed in work-related incidents in Great Britain in the last year. The industries with the highest deaths were construction (45), agriculture, forestry, and fishing (…
Legal Article
18/08/23
Many personal injury claims are dealt with under a fixed costs regime, with many more due to be brought into an extended fixed recoverable costs regime from the 1 October 2023. This limits the ability for defendants to challenge claimants' costs. That said there are still opportunities to make…
Legal Article
18/08/23
Health and Safety enforcement regrettably tends to follow tragic or serious incidents. In this tragic case, a prosecution was brought by Leeds City Council following the tragic death of a three year old who drowned when he was visiting the David Lloyds Leisure Club with his father and sister in…
Legal Article
18/08/23
The Human Rights Act 1998 ('HRA') explores that an Article 2 Inquest requires the state to carry out an enhanced investigation into the death of an individual, taking into the issue the wider circumstances that surround an individual's death. It is most common when the individual who dies is…
Legal Article
10/08/23
David Lloyd Leisure Club Limited has pleaded guilty to a health and safety offence after a three-year-old boy accidentally drowned in a pool at the firm's leisure club in Moortown, Leeds in April 2018 . The company was fined £2.55m and ordered to pay £258,000 in costs at Leeds Crown…
Legal Article
08/02/23
According to the HSE between 5 and 6 people in the UK are killed each year when trees or their branches fall on them. The incidents involving around 3 of those people will take place in public places with trees that are owned and maintained by local authorities. As recently as September 2020 a six…
