Health and safety breaches

New tough sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences (similar to those for environmental offences) mean that the Courts can now impose fines in excess of £10 million in some cases. Court sanctions can effectively put an organisation out of business if the Court considers that breaches are sufficiently serious. Individuals can also face the possibility of custodial sentences in certain circumstances. Negative publicity following an incident can also have serious reputational and financial consequences.

It is therefore crucial that organisations and individuals receive the right advice at the earliest stage of any investigation. Taking the right approach at the outset is the key to achieving the best possible resolution for you. Often, when instructed at an early stage, we may be able to prevent a prosecution from taking place at all, or greatly reduce any financial penalty that a Court might impose at a later stage.

Whether you’re an individual or a company, an investigation or prosecution for alleged health and safety breaches or corporate manslaughter, can be extremely challenging and take up significant resources.

We advise on a broad range of health and safety investigations and prosecutions. 

We are able to offer practical and strategic advice on:

• health and safety breach investigations
• environmental safety
• food safety and hygiene
• transport and haulage safety issues
• fire safety
• agricultural safety
• road and rail safety

We can assist you with:

• advice and support for board members following an incident
• advice and representation prior to and during any interview under caution conducted by the Health and Safety Executive, police,  fire or local authorities
• advice and representation in any subsequent criminal or inquest proceedings
• negotiating alternative resolutions to prosecution with any regulatory authority when dealing with alleged health and safety breaches. 

Our lawyers are dedicated to promoting and defending your interests fearlessly and tenaciously, by providing practical and strategic advice from the outset. We can advise and represent across a wide range of health and safety matters throughout all stages of the case.

We are ranked in Legal 500 and Chambers for our expertise. Here are some comments made about us.

Our charges are based on our hourly rates plus administrative charges and disbursements. We are able to offer competitive hourly rates and overall fees, without compromising the quality of our representation. At the beginning of your case, we’ll explain the funding options with you in order to put in place a funding package that is affordable and manageable.