Health And Safety | Employer Avoids Prison | Kangs HSE Solicitors
An employer, Andrew Gibson, has received a suspended jail sentence following breaches of Health and Safety legislation resulting in an accident causing an employee to suffer life-changing injuries.
Sukhdip Randhawa of Kangs Solicitors looks at the circumstances of this case.
The Circumstances | Kangs Health And Safety Solicitors
An employee of Andrew Gibson’s kitchen manufacturing company was using an electric table saw on large sheets of chipboard when his right hand made contact with the unguarded saw blade resulting in the severance of three fingers.
Health & Safety Executive Officers discovered:
- there was no appropriate push-stick or jig in place, which would have kept the employee’s hand and fingers away from the moving blade,
- the crown guard and riving knife were not fixed to the machine.
The Health & Safety Executive commented:
“This incident could so easily have been avoided by implementing suitable control measures and safe working practices. Dangerous parts of machinery should be appropriately guarded as required by the legislation, in order to protect employees”.
The Relevant Legislation | Kangs Health & Safety Defence Solicitors
The Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (‘the Act’) provides:
2. General duties of employers to their employees.
- It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his/her employees.
- Without prejudice to the generality of the employer’s duty under the preceding subsection, the matters to which that duty extends includes in particular:
- The provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work that are, so far as reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health;
- Arrangements for ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances;
- The provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his or her employees;
- So far as is reasonably practicable as regards any place of work under the employer’s control, the maintenance of it in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of means of access to and egress from it that are safe and without such risks;
- The provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employers that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for the welfare at work.
How Can We Help? | Kangs Health & Safety At Work Solicitors
Kangs Solicitors has a wealth of knowledge and experience in dealing with all matters of Health and Safety law.
Our specialist team provides advice and assistance throughout the entire criminal process, from the initial intervention by the Health & Safety Executive through to enforcement, interview under caution and ultimately the defence of any ensuing criminal prosecution.
Who Can I Contact? | Kangs HSE Criminal Defence Solicitors
Please feel free to contact our Team through any of the Solicitors named below who will be happy to provide you with some initial advice and assistance.
Hamraj Kang
hkang@kangssolicitors.co.uk
07976 258 171 | 020 7936 6396 | 0121 449 9888
Suki Randhawa
srandhawa@kangssolicitors.co.uk
0121 449 9888 | 020 7936 6396 | 07989 521210
John Veale
jveale@kangssolicitors.co.uk
0121 449 9888 | 07989 521210
