Engineering firm first to be guilty of corporate manslaughter
Employer had ‘cavalier attitude’ to health and safety
An engineering firm has become the first UK employer to be convicted of corporate manslaughter, after an employee was crushed to death at work.
The charges against employer Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings were brought under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, which came into force in April 2008.
Employer had ‘cavalier attitude’ to health and safety
An engineering firm has become the first UK employer to be convicted of corporate manslaughter, after an employee was crushed to death at work.
The charges against employer Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings were brought under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, which came into force in April 2008.
Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings was found guilty of killing geologist Alexander Wright, aged 27, who was crushed to death when a trench collapsed at a site near Stroud in September 2008.
The firm denied the charges, but a police investigation found that the company had a “cavalier attitude” to health and safety.
A jury at Winchester Crown Court found the company guilty of failure to ensure the safety of its employee.
Sentencing will take place on Thursday (17 February) and could see the firm fined a percentage of its turnover.
Wright, who had been working as soil engineer for more than two years, was taking soil samples in a trial pit, which was 3.8m deep and 60cm wide when it collapsed.
The firm denied the charges, but a police investigation found that the company had a “cavalier attitude” to health and safety.
A jury at Winchester Crown Court found the company guilty of failure to ensure the safety of its employee.
Sentencing will take place on Thursday (17 February) and could see the firm fined a percentage of its turnover.
Wright, who had been working as soil engineer for more than two years, was taking soil samples in a trial pit, which was 3.8m deep and 60cm wide when it collapsed.
The court heard that the trench was not supported by wooden struts, which flouted health and safety laws.
Company managing director Peter Eaton, had also left Wright working alone and unsupervised in the trench while he went offsite when the collapse happened.
An investigation by Gloucestershire Constabulary, working with the Health and Safety Executive, said: "The company had a cavalier attitude towards health and safety. The way it taught and supervised junior engineers was inherently dangerous and the methods of working were outdated.
Company managing director Peter Eaton, had also left Wright working alone and unsupervised in the trench while he went offsite when the collapse happened.
An investigation by Gloucestershire Constabulary, working with the Health and Safety Executive, said: "The company had a cavalier attitude towards health and safety. The way it taught and supervised junior engineers was inherently dangerous and the methods of working were outdated.
"This case should also act as a salutary lesson to others working in site investigation and specifically within the geotechnical industry. We hope that today's outcome may go some way towards protecting others working in similar fields."
Pinsent Masons, the law firm representing Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings, said the company was considering an appeal.
Jonathan Grimes, partner at law firm Kingsley Napley, said: “This conviction and tomorrow's sentence will be a relief to the CPS but there is still a long way to go.
"Public confidence in the state’s ability to hold negligent companies to account will only return with the successful prosecution of a large corporate entity following a large-scale industrial incident with multiple fatalities.
Pinsent Masons, the law firm representing Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings, said the company was considering an appeal.
Jonathan Grimes, partner at law firm Kingsley Napley, said: “This conviction and tomorrow's sentence will be a relief to the CPS but there is still a long way to go.
"Public confidence in the state’s ability to hold negligent companies to account will only return with the successful prosecution of a large corporate entity following a large-scale industrial incident with multiple fatalities.
"History is littered with failed prosecutions in these cases such as those following the Zeebrugge ferry and Hatfield rail disasters.
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