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Crown Censure for MoD after agency driver is killed in vehicle accident (10 March 2017)

Date: 10/03/2017
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Crown Censure for MoD after agency driver is killed in vehicle accident

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued the Ministry of Defence (MoD) with a Crown Censure, after an agency driver working for the MoD was killed in an accident involving a reversing vehicle.

On 19 November 2013, Graham Wood, 55, of Bicester in Oxfordshire was crushed between a reversing lorry and a stationary vehicle while he and a colleague were delivering goods to a large holding area at MoD Kineton in Southam, Warwickshire.

The HSE investigation found that the MoD had failed to assess the risks created by the movement of large vehicles in the area and had failed to ensure that a safe system of work was in place to identify and control the risks presented by the movement of large vehicles in this area.

Following the incident, a safe system of work – including marked parking bays, well-defined walkways for pedestrians and a one-way system – was introduced.

After delivering the Crown Censure, HSE’s deputy director of field operations, Jane Lassey, said:

“The risks arising from vehicle movements are well known and suitable measures required to reduce these risks are understood. Like any other employer, the MoD has a responsibility to reduce dangers to agency workers as well as their own employees on their sites as far as they properly can – and in this case, they failed Graham Wood.”

By accepting the Crown Censure, the MoD admitted breaching its duty under Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, in that they exposed their employees and those not directly employed by MoD to risks to their health, safety and welfare. Those risks manifested themselves in a lack of a safe system of work.

The breaches of law covered by the Censure include Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, which state that:

It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.

The Censure also relates to Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, which states:

It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct its undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in its employment who may be affected thereby are not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

The MoD cannot face prosecution in the same way as non-government bodies – and a Crown Censure is the maximum sanction for a government body that HSE can bring.

There is no financial penalty associated with Crown Censure, but once accepted, it is an official record of a failure to meet the standards set out in law.

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors can advise members of the Armed Forces who have suffered injury as a result of negligence while on duty on how to make a no win no fee claim for compensation.

Claims against the Ministry of Defence have to be made within three years of injury or diagnosis of injury. Claims can be made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and through the civil courts on a no win no fee basis.

Duncan Lewis solicitors also offer supportive legal advice to bereaved families whose loved one has lost their life as a result of negligence and who wish to claim compensation.

Our specialist claims solicitors can also advise members of the public who have suffered injury as a result of negligence by the MoD or Armed Forces personnel.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Claims Against MoD, call Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 0333 772 0409.

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