Chadwick Lawrence successfully defend high profile Health and Safety case

In recent months Chadwick Lawrence have been involved in a high profile contentious Health and Safety case in the Midlands. We are pleased to report that this case has been successfully defended and our client avoided prosecution.

This case concerned a Store Manager of a retail outlet working alone in the early hours of the morning to ensure his shop was ready for trading. A cage of goods the Store Manager was pulling down an exterior slope fell on him and the Store Manager suffered a broken left ankle.

The local authority alleged that the accident was the result of the quantity of stocks sent to the store and because the Store Manager had no choice but to come to work early to move pallets and cages from aisles in the shop to ensure trading could begin at 9.00am.

Chadwick Lawrence successfully argued that the actions of the employee were in breach of the company’s health and safety systems and in particular the risk assessments that had been carried out. Had the Store Manager followed the Health & Safety procedures set out the accident would have never have happened.

This case highlights the importance of having clear safe systems of work and risk assessments that are communicated to employees. These documents can potentially avoid a successful prosecution.

If you have any regulatory or health and safety queries then please contact Robert Brackup or Nils O’Donoghue on 01924 379 078.