Robert Spicer
As part of our goal to bring you the latest legal news for employment and health and safety law in this feature we provide you with a selection from Robert Spicer’s ‘Health and Safety Horrors’ Linked In posts. We thank Robert Spicer for sharing his case law updates with us. If you missed the previous articles in this feature series you can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
A note from Robert Spicer
I was called to the Bar in 1970 and I continue to practise full time in the areas of employment law and health and safety at work. I have monitored health and safety prosecutions for a number of years. My website is www.frederickchambers.co.uk
When it comes to health and safety in the workplace, the stakes are especially high in environments involving vulnerable people and hazardous conditions. In Part 3 of ‘Health and Safety Horrors’, Robert Spicer draws our attention to recent cases that highlight considerations for:
- ensuring safety of the occupant whilst working in their home
- hazards that can arise when maintaining an NHS site
- the safegaurding of vulnerable hospital patients
- control measures in care homes for mixed resident living
- protecting staff who handle dangerous chemicals,
Health and safety horrors: hole in bathroom floor
In September 2024 Cooper and Westgate Co Ltd, a construction company, was fined at Leeds magistrates’ court following the death of a client.
In February 2019 the company was converting a bathroom into a wet room at the deceased’s property. The company had removed the floorboards and left an unguarded hole in the floor. The deceased fell though the hole. He was found by a relative on the next day.
The company had failed to adequately secure the hole because its employees were not properly trained.
It had also failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and had not prepared a method statement.
The company was fined £150,000 plus £50,000 costs.
Health and safety horrors: failure to provide psychiatric treatment
In November 2023 Priory Healthcare Ltd was fined at Southwark Crown Court following the death of a patient.
In September 2013 a 21 year old patient died at the Priory Hospital in Roehampton, London. She had been transferred from a local hospital to a specialist unit at the Priory Hospital. The patient went to the patient lounge at the hospital and used her tights as a ligature.
Priory Healthcare Ltd, which operated the hospital, failed to ensure that the provision of in-patient psychiatric treatment was carried out in such a way that patients were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.
The company was fined £140,000 under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work, etc,, Act 1974.
Health and safety horrors: death of a care home resident
In December 2023 Alexandra Homes (Bristol) Ltd was fined following the death of a care home resident.
Alexandra House is a specialist residential care service for adults with Asperger syndrome and autism spectrum disorders.
In October 2014 a female resident of the care home operated by the company was murdered by Jason Conroy, another resident.
The care home had been warned that Conroy posed a risk to others and could be violent. The care home did not have suitably trained and qualified staff in sufficient numbers to adequately deal with Conroy.
Staff were not sufficiently informed of the risks posed by Conroy. He was not adequately monitored and there were insufficient control methods in place to ensure the safety of people in the home, particularly at night.
The company was fined £125,000 plus £41,000 costs.
Health and safety horrors: death from chemical
In June 2024 Tata Chemicals Europe Ltd was fined at Chester Crown Court following the death of a worker.
In November 2016 a worker was erecting scaffolding at a plant operated by Tata. He stepped over a trough which contained liquid calcium hydroxide, known as milk of lime. His foot slipped on an unfastened lid covering the trough and his foot entered the trough. He suffered chemical and thermal burns to his right foot, which resulted in his death.
There was no permit in place for hazardous work in a live chemical plant. No proper thought had been given to the risks involved. There was no clearly understood plan to address these risks. The deceased had only been given a brief induction. He had not been warned that there would be chemical product flowing through the plant and that the lids to the trough had not been properly sealed. There were no visible warning signs in place.
There had been previous prosecutions of the company for health and safety failures at the site.
The company was fined £1.125 million plus £60,600 costs.
Health and safety horrors: death from chemical fumes in manhole
In January 2024 Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was fined after a worker was found unconscious in a manhole.
In February 2022 an employee of the Trust was found unconscious in a manhole. He had been unblocking a drain at the hospital when he was discovered by other workers.
He was rescued by the fire and rescue service and was treated for acute sulphate intoxication. This caused a traumatic brain injury and ongoing issues with memory loss and nerve damage.
The Trust had failed to identify the manhole as a confined space and to properly risk assess the activity. It failed to prevent entry of employees into confined spaces. This had been custom and practice for a number of years.
The Trust had also failed to identify a safe system of work or method statement for cleaning blocked drains and no precautions were taken to reduce the risk of injury.
No confined spaces training had been given to workers. Insufficient information and training had been provided to workers involved or methods to be adopted when clearing drains and entering deep drains or manholes.
The Trust was fined £480,000 plus £4200 costs under s.2 of the Health and Safety at Work, etc., Act 1974.