Very large organisations (VLOs) could face higher fines for health and safety offences under amended guidelines published by the Sentencing Council.
By Belinda Liversedge on 13 June 2025
The owner of a paddleboard business who caused the deaths of four people in a river in south-west Wales has been jailed for 10 and a half years. The court heard Nerys Lloyd, 39, had been “completely reckless” to take a group of inexperienced paddleboarders into the flooded river and weir in Haverfordwest.
By Belinda Liversedge on 01 May 2025
Engineering firm BAM Nuttall has been fined £800,000 over the death of a labourer during the construction of a wind farm on the Shetland Islands.
By Kerry Reals on 19 December 2024
Retailer John Lewis has been fined £1.2 million after a warehouse worker fell from steps that did not have a handrail and suffered serious injuries.
By Kerry Reals on 09 December 2024
The owner of well-known food brands including Ginsters pasties and Soreen malt loaf has been fined more than £1 million over the death of an employee who was struck by a lorry that was delivering supplies to one of its bakeries.
By Kerry Reals on 13 November 2024
Construction firm Balfour Beatty has been fined £285,000 after a worker fell and died when a scissor lift was knocked over by a crane during building works at the University of Birmingham.
By Kerry Reals on 18 September 2024
The National Grid has been fined £3.2 million after a worker suffered “life-changing” burns from a 33,000-volt shock while working on a pylon, to which the electricity had not been switched off.
By Kerry Reals on 09 September 2024
A Nottingham-based wood recycling company has been fined £22,500 and ordered to pay costs of more than £44,000 after an employee was struck by a wheel loader and killed.
By Kerry Reals on 27 August 2024
A recycling company has been fined £3 million in relation to the death of one worker and the serious injury of another when part of a gas rig fell on them while they were carrying out decommissioning work.
By Kerry Reals on 30 July 2024
A company has been fined £75,000 after a cow broke free from Whitland Livestock Market in Wales and killed a 75-year-old man who was crossing a nearby street.
By Kerry Reals on 21 June 2024
A construction firm has been fined more than £2 million after a worker drowned in a river when the boat that he was using to help remove debris from the bottom of a weir capsized.
By Kerry Reals on 13 June 2024
Telecoms company Openreach has been fined £1.34 million in relation to the death of one of its workers, who was swept away by a flooded river while attempting to repair a telephone line in Wales.
By Kerry Reals on 06 June 2024
