By Samuel Rapley 17/03/2017

Under: Health and Safety News

The Rise in Multi-Million Pound Safety Fines

Courts must now give extra consideration to the degree of potential harm and the financial turnover of the business in addition to the actual harm caused. In this week’s blog, we take a look at three multi-million pound cases which have come to court in the last year and examine how the update affected the penalties.

ConocoPhillips (UK) – Gas Failure – £3m

One of the first companies to come under scrutiny within the new guidelines was ConocoPhillips (UK). The fuel giant was hit with a hefty £3 million fine following gas leaks on an offshore platform.

The fault was caused by deficiencies in isolation, planning and communication during maintenance work. Over a two-day period, the leaks put the lives of 66 workers on the site at risk, amounting to a serious breach of the Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response Regulations 1995.

Notable in this case was the lack of any injury caused. Previously, fines for offenses where no injury has occurred have been much lower. The case highlights the increased focus on the risk of harm under the new guidelines, meaning that companies must tighten up and not assume that avoiding injuries will result in a lenient penalty.

Merlin Entertainments – Smiler Crash – £5m

In perhaps the most prominent health and safety ruling of 2016, Merlin Entertainments, owners of Alton Towers, was fined £5 million for safety failings which led to a serious crash on their Smiler rollercoaster.  

The accident in June 2015, left sixteen people injured when their carriage collided with a stationary carriage on the same track. Of the casualties, five were seriously injured, including two young women who suffered leg amputations.

The court heard how Alton Tower’s engineers overrode the Smiler’s control system without the knowledge and understanding to ensure it was safe to do so. The investigation concluded the accident was caused by ‘a lack of detailed, robust arrangements for making safety-critical decisions.’

The judge ruled that with high culpability and risk of harm, this was a category one case deserving of the highest level of penalty. Working within the new guidelines and considering Merlin Entertainment’s £500 million turnover ensured that the resulting fine was a record breaking one for the industry.

Warburtons – Fall from Height – £2m

In January this year, bread makers Warburtons was given a £2 million fine after an employee fractured his spine falling from height.

Warburton employee Andrew Sears was cleaning one of the mixing machines at their Wednesbury bakery in November 2013, when he lost his footing and fell nearly two meters. Mr Sears couldn’t work for over a year and, even after his initial recovery, he was unable to continue in his previous role.

The investigation found that the company failed to control the risk of falls from height when carrying out routine cleaning. Workers were inadequately supervised and there had been a lack of training.

The impact of the 2016 sentencing guidelines is clear when the case is compared to another prosecution at the company in 2014. In this case, the employee also suffered a serious, long term injury, this time to his hand. However, the company was only fined £5000, a stark comparison to the £2 million fine this year.

It seems fair to assume that the prospect of larger fines, perhaps even with the ability to put a company out of business, will encourage greater safety compliance. Whether the new guidelines will reduce incident rates, we’ll have to wait and see.

Don’t be on the receiving end of a fine and reputation damage. Talk to a member of our team today about our safety compliant solutions.

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