Health and safety at work

R v Connors Building & Restoration Ltd [2020] EWCA Crim 868

A company’s conviction for failing to comply with the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 Part I s2(1) has been upheld on appeal. An employee had been injured using a rip saw and this was a serious offence which caused very serious harm. Although the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) could have issued an Improvement Notice instead of deciding to prosecute, this did not mean that there had been an abuse of process. An alternative response than prosecution would not have satisfied the need to deal with the competing public interest considerations that the Health and Safety executive was required to consider.