“A poor attitude to health and safety really can mean loss of life and livelihood. Under the new Corporate Manslaughter Bill individual directors and businesses alike may be liable for employee injury or death.  Our highly experienced team has an excellent reputation for both defending and prosecuting cases relating to health and safety.” David Thompson, Managing Partner

In recent years, following the rise in health and safety prosecutions, companies have had to become more aware of the risks to personal safety arising out of work activities.

The Moore Blatch Health & Safety team, led by David Thompson, has an excellent reputation for both defending and prosecuting cases relating to health and safety. Click to read more about David Thompson and Amy Mayhew.

We offer a comprehensive service to individuals, companies, directors and senior managers charged with offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, other regulatory offences and corporate manslaughter.

We have also acted for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on a wide range of prosecutions in high profile cases in the Crown Court, as well as the Verderers of the New Forest.

Our services include:

Interviews

An integral part of a health and safety investigation is the invitation to attend an interview with an Inspector from the HSE following the incident. We can advise on your rights, duties, and the benefits and potential downsides of attending an interview, whether in person or on behalf of a company. We will attend the interview with you and be on hand to offer advice on the powers of inspectors under the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

We can put forward your case to the prosecution and seek to persuade them not to prosecute if the circumstances permit.

Prosecutions

In the event that you are prosecuted, we can offer you a comprehensive service and provide you with advice on Evidence, Plea, Defence, Mitigation and Penalties.  If the matter proceeds to trial, we can provide step-by-step support and advice to the conclusion of the trial. Our firm has established relationships with specialist Counsel in this area that provide advocacy support at Crown Court.

Coroners Inquests

If the incident has resulted in a fatality, a coroner’s inquest may form a part of the investigation. We are able to attend with you and question the witnesses on your behalf.

Public Enquiries

In the event that the incident is of serious public nature, there may be a public enquiry. Our team has extensive experience in representing clients at public enquires. The format of a public enquiry is different to trial and the terms of an enquiry are case specific.

Working with you

We will work with your in-house or external health and safety team to provide you with the best possible framework for your business to comply with legislation.

Our expertise is consistently recognised by independent research.  Legal directories Chambers UK and Legal 500 have commented on our team as being "rated by peers for its prolific output in prosecutions" and that our lawyers "have an astonishing capability for retaining the details, and are excellent at motivating their clients". David Thompson is recommended "in particular for workplace matters".

Click here to read about the cases we have been involved in.