Edward Ware's Death Trap – sequel #2
because he
deserves it
Edward John Ware
Again—,
Teddy Death Trap
and his lickspittle lawyer
–see Comment– has called
me a liar– intimidated my former web host–complained
of libel and defamation with menacing and deceitful threats.
self piteous plaints
In case I might seem a little
vague or timid,
and to— slap teddy down —again—,
I have set out below a digest of the many serious crimes that have evidently been committed, by gross derelictions of statutory duties,
for all of which —Edward John Ware is responsible—.
If legal issues do not interest you - skip ahead to follow the story of Edward Ware's Death Trap - find out what Teddy is shitting about - click the "NEXT" button, on the right - but first ...
Contents:- this page
Edward Ware's Criminal Enterprise:Introduction - Edward Ware's Crimes:
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999:
Construction (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1996:
Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989:
Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 1987:
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994:
Employer's Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969:
Occupier's Liability Acts 1957 & 1984:
Death Trap Teddy – Graphic:
Edward Ware's Criminal Enterprise:
–Edward Ware–
– Edward Ware Homes –
was systemically criminal and corrupt. Teddy did not just cut
a few corners, or overlook
some petty regulations
–he burnt the book–
The litany of his crimes runs from the generic, ignoring the overarching requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 ss.2-7, for example, to neglecting to obey explicit statutory mandates, eg. properly securing the demolition site, preventing fatal falls, allowing nails to protrude, or preventing the spread of asbestos. Invariably, his crimes consist of what he didn't do.
The general visitor to this site, viewing Death Trap Teddy's Slideshow, or reading the articles, will be perfectly capable of working out what Teddy didn't do. From his complete failure to secure the site or buildings, for nearly a year - a children's playground - or even put up some notices - fatal, unguarded drops - evident risks from falling glass - sharp and trip hazards - trapping risks - unguarded, unsafe electrical installations - multiple serious fire dangers - asbestos ...
Edward Ware's Death Trap— absolute criminal neglect.
Criminal Speculations
Yet, the obvious derelictions suggest a more radical malaise infecting Edward Ware's company, and indicate that the criminality extended beyond the obvious and apparent.
Is it inconceivable that such dereliction could have occured if Edward Ware had been running his company, Acraman (305) Limited, in an attentive, competent and law-abiding manner. By curious synchronicity; The Finance Director of Edward Ware Homes, major shareholder, gave his address as Matrix Chambers.
To take a single example. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 insist that a properly competent and qualified person ensures that a written health and safety plan be prepared, and effected, before any work begins ...
that didn't happen.
Did Teddy fulfill his legal obligations to provide statutory notice to the enforcing authorities of his intention to commence demolition work ? Did Teddy notify the Health and Safety Executive of his intention to undertake the removal of asbestos, and then ensure the work was performed properly ? It can be easily tested. Failure to file or produce the documentation required can be adduced by the authorities as evidence to prove guilt ... even now.
Cynical, Callous Calculus
Painter and decorator Teddy became a multi-millionaire in a very short time. He was a proxy for substantial private investors, with expert financial and commercial legal support -
to lick the cream of a booming property market.
When Tedddy failed to insure his workers properly, and certainly didn't secure any valid public liability insurance, he was blithely assuming that others, ultimately, would pick up the bill for any
deaths, injuries or diseases caused by his negligence.
Edward Ware neglected to observe his duties under Control of Asbestos Regulations 1987, as an example, to take adequate precautions to prevent the spread of asbestos. He created the distinct possibility of a malignant, silent and invisible threat to the circle of homes and schools surrounding his Death Trap - future lives destroyed. Cheaper to ignore the risks, perhaps.
At the time that Edward Ware was commiting his crimes, he could have relied on receiving an improvement notice before there was a prospect of prosecution. Even then, the penalties tended to be trivial, fines as little as £50. There was the possibility that he could have been indicted, fined up to £20,000 and imprisoned for up to two years, but such prosecutions were very rare indeed. I doubt that Teddy bothered to worry.
Some general explanations suggest themselves for Teddy's reckless derelictions:-
Perhaps Teddy was genuinely ignorant and negligent as to his responsibilities, obviously indifferent, a shocking indictment in itself.
Another possible explanation was that Teddy was insolvent. Perhaps Teddy couldn't afford the few hundreds of pounds it would have cost to secure the site — despite the sale of salvage rights, and the proceeds of the sale of the peripheral estate buildings.
Insolvency would not exonerate him.
Alternatively, he knew what he should do, but didn't want the trouble and expense of doing things properly.
Maybe Teddy considered the criminal penalties, and risks to other people, to be inconsiderable, trivial, set against his—
greed for £ millions— deliberate cynical callous calculus.
Final assett strip sale of the rump, plump site made to Crosby Homes, early 2003.
Set out below is a digest or outline of the principal statutes and regulations, which Teddy was legally bound to obey.
Clicking the heading folds out the supporting legal citations and scrolls the section to the top. Click again to hide the citations.
All citations are UK © Crown Copyright.
Introduction, Edward Ware's Crimes: click me!
It would be invidious to accuse Teddy of crimes without spelling out what they are, and showing why he is culpable ! So, in the following parts, I offer a gloss or digest of a selection of what are the most relevant statutes and regulations. Supporting the summaries, I have provided extracts from the relevant laws, available as fold-outs. Click the section headings to toggle their visibility.
There are a number of special considerations that apply to health and safety legislation and enforcement. Safety legislation, almost invariably, specifies duties to be performed, to various degrees of rigour. Teddy, pretty obviously, did nothing - res ipsa loquitur.
One consequence of this approach is that the ordinary burden of proof is reversed. The usual presumption of innocence does not apply. It does not, generally, fall to the prosecution to prove guilt.
The defendant, to avoid conviction, is expected to show that they did what was required by law. "The burden of proof rests with the defendant to prove that the measures required were not 'reasonably practicable' in all the circumstances of the case."
"The onus of proving that everything reasonably practicable has been done to satisfy a particular duty rests upon the accused."
Davies v. Health and Safety Executive (2003)
Health and Safety duties range from those that must be performed, through those that are "practicable", eg. possible, to those that are reasonable in the circumstances. As said, Teddy didn't do anything at all - until he was told to.
"reasonably practical" is a narrower term than "physically possible", and implies that a computation must be made in which the quantum of risk is placed on one scale and the sacrifice involved in the measures necessary for averting the risk (whether in time, money or trouble) is placed in the other, and that, if it be shown that there is a gross disproportion between them - the risk being insignificant in relation to the sacrifice - the defendants discharge the onus upon them'.
Edwards v. National Coal Board. (1949) AER 743
The directors of companies, and the officers and managers, can be convicted for health and safety offences if they can be shown to have been negligent or to have connived or consented to the commission of an offence. Most of the relevant acts and regulations make specific provisions for such culpability.
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
s.37 Offences by bodies corporate.
(1) Where an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
It is not directly relevant to guilt, whether Teddy simply took his eyes off the ball; whether he just assumed that his employees and contractors were doing their jobs properly; whether he was simply incompetent; whether he ran out of money or whether he couldn't be bothered and discounted the risks.
Reckless or gross negligence arises by a reckless act or omission, and a person acts recklessly - "without having given any thought to the possibilty of there being such a risk or, having recognised that there was some risk involved, had none the less gone on to take it."
(R v. Caldwell (1981) 1 AER 961).
Edward Ware commited multiple criminal offences. Many of the crimes are simply obvious and undeniable. Others cannot be seen, but are strongly suggested by the apparent chaos and blatant amateurism of his enterprise. The sheer scale and extent of his derelictions can, perhaps, be judged from the selection of laws, in effect at the time, glossed and cited below.
Teddy should stop squealing and drawing attention to himself.
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) is an enabling act that creates a framework of overarching duties on all employers, the self-employed, and the controllers of work premises, to do all that is reasonably practicable to secure the health and safety of all workers, and anybody, including neighbours, who are forseeably likely to be affected by an undertaking, including the condition of premises.
s.1 Preliminary.
(1) The provisions of this Part shall have effect with a view to -
(a) securing the health, safety and welfare of persons at work;
(b) protecting persons other than persons at work against risks to health or safety arising out of or in connection with the activities of persons at work;
(3) For the purposes of this Part risks arising out of or in connection with the activities of persons at work shall be treated as including risks attributable to the manner of conducting an undertaking, the plant or substances used for the purposes of an undertaking and the condition of premises so used or any part of them.
The Act mandates a particular duty to ensure that any place of work is maintained in a safe condition.
s.2 General duties of employers to their employees.
(1) 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.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of an employer's duty under the preceding subsection, the matters to which that duty extends include in particular -
(d) so far as is reasonably practicable as regards any place of work under the employer's control, the maintenance of it in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of means of access to and egress from it that are safe and without such risks;
(e) the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.
HSWA extends the duties owed to everybody who may be affected or who may be exposed to risk.
s.3 General duties of employers and self-employed to persons other than their employees.
(1) It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.
(2) It shall be the duty of every self-employed person to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.
The Act creates a number of criminal offences directly - failures to discharge duties generally defined in the Act - but also contraventions of H&S regulations made under the Act, or requirements or prohibitions made by regulation.
s.33 Offences.
(1) It is an offence for a person-
(a) to fail to discharge a duty to which he is subject by virtue of sections 2 to 7;
(b) to contravene section 8 or 9;
(c) to contravene any health and safety regulations . . . or any requirement or prohibition imposed under any such regulations (including any requirement or prohibition to which he is subject by virtue of the terms of or any condition or restriction attached to any licence, approval, exemption or other authority issued, given or granted under the regulations);
It is important to remember that, although there is a six month time limit for the enforcing authority to prosecute, this limit runs from the time that they become aware of sufficient evidence to justify prosecution, not from the commission of an offence.
s.34 Extension of time for bringing summary proceedings.
(3) Summary proceedings for an offence to which this subsection applies may be commenced at any time within six months from the date on which there comes to the knowledge of a responsible enforcing authority evidence sufficient in the opinion of that authority to justify a prosecution for that offence; and for the purposes of this subsection -
(a) a certificate of an enforcing authority stating that such evidence came to its knowledge on a specified date shall be conclusive evidence of that fact; and
(b) a document purporting to be such a certificate and to be signed by or on behalf of the enforcing authority in question shall be presumed to be such a certificate unless the contrary is proved.
Directors and other officers of a company, as well as the company, can be prosecuted if it can be shown that offences have been committed with their consent, connivance, or due to their negligence.
s.37 Offences by bodies corporate.
(1) Where an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Because the Act imposes duties, it falls to the accused to show that they did enough to satisfy the duty or requirement. This is a reversal of the ordinary burden of proof. Case law has established that insolvency, or other incapacity, cannot be adduced as grounds for avoiding practicable duties.
s.40 Onus of proving limits of what is practicable etc.
In any proceedings for an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions consisting of a failure to comply with a duty or requirement to do something so far as is practicable or so far as is reasonably practicable, or to use the best practicable means to do something, it shall be for the accused to prove (as the case may be) that it was not practicable or not reasonably practicable to do more than was in fact done to satisfy the duty or requirement, or that there was no better practicable means than was in fact used to satisfy the duty or requirement.
There are many instances in H&S law where there are requirements, for example; to provide notices of work intended; to prepare H&S plans; and the like. Such documentary evidence is admissable in proceedings. Most importantly, the absence of such documentation can be adduced as evidence of guilt.
s.41 Evidence.
(1) Where an entry is required by any of the relevant statutory provisions to be made in any register or other record, the entry, if made, shall, as against the person by or on whose behalf it was made, be admissible as evidence or in Scotland sufficient evidence of the facts stated therein.
(2) Where an entry which is so required to be so made with respect to the observance of any of the relevant statutory provisions has not been made, that fact shall be admissible as evidence or in Scotland sufficient evidence that that provision has not been observed.
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999:
These regulations mandate that employers must properly assess the risks to their emplyees, and risks to any others, arising from their undertakings, in order to conform with the statutory requirements.
3. Risk assessment
(1) Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of -
(a) the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and
(b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking, for the purpose of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions ...
Employers must take proactive steps to ensure effective organisation and provision of protective and preventive measures. When there are five or more employees, or workers, a written health and safety plan must be produced, maintained and made available to the enforcing authority.
5. Health and safety arrangements
(1) Every employer shall make and give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate, having regard to the nature of his activities and the size of his undertaking, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures.
(2) Where the employer employs five or more employees, he shall record the arrangements referred to in paragraph (1).
Nobody can avoid criminal conviction by blaming others for dereliction of their own statutory duties.
21. Provisions as to liability
Nothing in the relevant statutory provisions shall operate so as to afford an employer a defence in any criminal proceedings for a contravention of those provisions by reason of any act or default of -
(a) an employee of his, or
(b) a person appointed by him under regulation 7.
Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996:
CHSWRs 1996 make it clear that the regulations cover and include demolition sites.
2.- Definitions
In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires - "construction site" means any place where the principal work activity being carried out is construction work;
"construction work" means the carrying out of any building, civil engineering or engineering construction work and includes any of the following -
(a) the construction, alteration, conversion, fitting out, commissioning, renovation, ... , de-commissioning, demolition or dismantling of a structure.
The regs are entirely clear that obligatory duties are laid upon persons who have control over the way that work is carried out. These duties extend to people other than employers who control the manner of work.
4.- Persons upon whom duties are imposed by these Regulations
(1) Subject to paragraph (5), it shall be the duty of every employer whose employees are carrying out construction work and every self-employed person carrying out construction work to comply with the provisions of these Regulations insofar as they affect him or any person at work under his control or relate to matters which are within his control.
(2) It shall be the duty of every person (other than a person having a duty under paragraph (1) or (3)) who controls the way in which any construction work is carried out by a person at work to comply with the provisions of these Regulations insofar as they relate to matters which are within his control.
Part five of these regulations specify that, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe means of access shall be provided and maintained. Workplaces must be kept safe and risk-free. Steps need to be taken to ensure that persons other than workers cannot gain access to dangerous sites. If a site is dangerous, practicable steps must be taken to ensure the safety of workers making it safe.
5.- Safe places of work
(1) There shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be suitable and sufficient safe access to and egress from every place of work and to any other place provided for the use of any person while at work, which access and egress shall be without risks to health and properly maintained.
(2) Every place of work shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be made and kept safe for, and without risks to health to, any person at work there.
(3) Suitable and sufficient steps shall be taken to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that no person gains access to any place which does not comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) or (2).
(4) Paragraphs (1) to (3) shall not apply in relation to a person engaged in work for the purpose of making any place safe, provided all practicable steps are taken to ensure the safety of that person whilst engaged in that work.
Special emphasis is placed, in the regulations, upon the prevention of the risks of injury or death arising from falls. Suitable measures to prevent falls need to installed - bannisters, barriers, guard rails and the like should meet the specifications laid out by statute. The regulation refers to "any person"
6.- Falls
(1) Suitable and sufficient steps shall be taken to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1) and subject to paragraph (6), where any person is to carry out work at a place from which he is liable to fall a distance of 2 metres or more or where any person is to use a means of access to or egress from a place of work from which access or egress he is liable to fall a distance of 2 metres or more -
(a) there shall, subject to sub-paragraphs (c) and (d) below and paragraph (9), be provided and used suitable and sufficient guard-rails and toe-boards, barriers or other similar means of protection to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, the fall of any person from that place, which guard-rails, toe-boards, barriers and other similar means of protection shall comply with the provisions of Schedule 1; ...
Falling objects and materials have always been recognised as one of the greatest dangers present on construction sites. A specific regulation is in place to address the duties on developers to mitigate and prevent such risks arising.
8.- Falling objects
(1) Where necessary to prevent danger to any person, suitable and sufficient steps shall be taken to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, the fall of any material or object.
If demolition causes any risk of danger to any person, it must be planned and carried out so as to prevent any danger. A competent person must supervise any potentially dangerous demolition work.
10.- Demolition or dismantling
(1) Suitable and sufficient steps shall be taken to ensure that the demolition or dismantling of any structure, or any part of any structure, being demolition or dismantling which gives rise to a risk of danger to any person, is planned and carried out in such a manner as to prevent, so far as is practicable, such danger.
(2) Demolition or dismantling to which paragraph (1) applies shall be planned and carried out only under the supervision of a competent person.
Those controlling demolition and construction sites owe particular duties to ensure that "any person" is free from risks that might arise from fire or explosion.
18.- Prevention of risk from fire etc.
Suitable and sufficient steps shall be taken to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, the risk of injury to any person during the carrying out of construction work arising from -
(a) fire or explosion;
Construction sites, as a rule, must be kept in good order, and as clean and tidy as reasonably practicable. Where safety is involved, the extent of a construction site must be identified by suitable signs. There is a legal maxim ... "A notice without more is no defence in law." This regulation also places particular emphasis on the dangers posed by protruding nails.
26.- Good order
(1) Every part of a construction site shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be kept in good order and every part of a construction site which is used as a place of work shall be kept in a reasonable state of cleanliness.
(2) Where necessary in the interests of health and safety, the perimeter of a construction site shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be identified by suitable signs and the site shall be so arranged that its extent is readily identifiable.
(3) No timber or other material with projecting nails shall -
(a) be used in any work in which the nails may be a source of danger to any person; or
(b) be allowed to remain in any place where the nails may be a source of danger to any person.
Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989:
Head injuries caused by falling objects and materials on construction sites are one of the greatest dangers. The Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989 set out stringent duties on employers and the self employed to provide and maintain suitable head protection. These duties extend to directors and officers of companies undertaking construction work.
3. Provision, maintenance and replacement of suitable head protections.
(1) Every employer shall provide each of his employees who is at work on operations or works to which these Regulations apply with suitable head protection and shall maintain it and replace with whenever necessary.
(2) Every self-employed person who is at work on operations or works to which these Regulations apply shall provide himself with suitable head protection and shall maintain it and replace it whenever necessary.
The duties are extended to ensuring that head protection is worn. The duties imply that company directors and officers must ensure that work managers and supervisors enforce the requirements.
4. Ensuring suitable head protection is worn
(1) Every employer shall ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that each of his employees who is at work on operations or works to which these Regulations apply wears suitable head protection, unless there is no foreseeable risk of injury to his head other than by his falling.
(2) Every employer, self-employed person or employee who has control over any other person who is at work on operations or works to which these Regulations apply shall ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that each such other person wears suitable head protection, unless there is no foreseeable risk of injury to that other person's head other than by his falling.
Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 1987:
Asbestos safety regulations in the UK date back to 1931, the first in the world. Between 1948 and 1980 the building boom relied heavily on the use of asbestos for fire resistance and insulation, particularly in institutional buildings. The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 1987 set out stringent requirements on, among others, the demolition and building trades. The duties are owed not only to workers but also to anybody who may be affected by work activity, at work or not.
3.- Duties under these Regulations
(1) Where any duty is placed by these Regulations on an employer in respect of his employees, he shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be under a like duty in respect of any other person who may be affected by the work activity, whether at work or not, ...
(2) These Regulations shall apply to a self-employed person as they apply to an employer and an employee and as if that self-employed person were both an employer and an employee.
(3) Nothing in these Regulations shall prejudice any requirement imposed by or under any enactment relating to public health or the protection of the environment.
Before any work commences that has any chance of exposing anybody to asbestos, proper steps must be taken to either identify the kind of asbestos involved, or assume that the most dangerous asbestos is involved, and act accordingly.
4.- Identification of the type of asbestos
An employer shall not carry out any work which exposes or is liable to expose any of his employees to asbestos unless either -
(a) before commencing that work, he has identified, by analysis or otherwise, the type of asbestos involved in the work; or
(b) he has assumed that the asbestos is crocidolite or amosite and for the purposes of these Regulations has treated it accordingly.
Employers must make an adequate assessment before any work commences, which includes identifying the type involved, the nature and degree of any likely exposure and must plan to prevent, or reduce exposure to the lowest level reasonably possible.
5.- Assessment of work which exposes employees to asbestos
(1) Subject to paragraph (3), an employer shall not carry out any work which exposes or is liable to expose any of his employees to asbestos unless he has made an adequate assessment of that exposure.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), that assessment shall -
(a) subject to regulation 4, identify the type of asbestos to which employees are liable to be exposed;
(b) determine the nature and degree of exposure which may occur in the course of the work; and
(c) set out the steps to be taken to prevent or reduce to the lowest level reasonably practicable that exposure.
No work can be carried out, involving asbestos, without giving the enforcing authority 28 days written notice, containing specified details of the work.
6.- Notification of work with asbestos
(2) An employer shall not carry out any work to which this regulation applies for the first time unless he has notified the enforcing authority in writing of the particulars specified in Schedule 1 at least 28 days before commencing that work or before such shorter time as the enforcing authority may agree.
Employers must take stringent measures not only to prevent exposure to asbestos, but must take every reasonable precaution to reduce exposure to the lowest practicable level.
8.- Prevention or reduction of exposure to asbestos
(1) Every employer shall -
(a) prevent the exposure of his employees to asbestos;
(b) where it is not reasonably practicable to prevent such exposure, reduce to the lowest level reasonably practicable the exposure of his employees to asbestos by measures other than the use of respiratory protective equipment.
Employers are obliged to do everything they can to prevent the spread of asbestos beyond the workplace.
12.- Duty to prevent or reduce the spread of asbestos
Every employer shall prevent or, where this is not reasonably practicable, reduce to the lowest level reasonably practicable, the spread of asbestos from any place where work with asbestos is carried out.
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994:
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 are an extensive set of rules intended to address the particular dangers and complexities inherent in the construction industry. The rules are very inclusive, giving a wide interpretation to the terms "construction work" and "contractor". In this context, demolition is included in the definition of construction work. There is a specific requirement that the enforcing authority is given notice of work that will exceed 30 days duration or a certain number of man-days work.
2.- Interpretation
(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires -
"construction work" means the carrying out of any building, civil engineering or engineering construction work and includes any of the following -
(a) the construction, alteration, ... demolition or dismantling of a structure,
"contractor" means any person who carries on a trade, business or other undertaking (whether for profit or not) in connection with which he -
(a) undertakes to or does carry out or manage construction work,
(b) arranges for any person at work under his control (including, where he is an employer, any employee of his) to carry out or manage construction work;
(4) For the purposes of these Regulations, a project is notifiable if the construction phase -
(a) will be longer than 30 days; or
(b) will involve more than 500 person days of construction work, ...
There is a particular emphasis placed on demolition work due to the especial dangers inherent in that work.
3.- Application of regulations
(3) These Regulations shall apply to and in relation to construction work which is the demolition or dismantling of a structure notwithstanding paragraph (2).
Central to the regulations is the duty to appoint properly competent contractors and to make sure that, before and during the whole course of the project, a responsible and competent planning supervisor is always in place. The roles can be filled in-house and by an individual, provided they are genuinely competent.
6.- Appointments of planning supervisor and principal contractor
(1) Subject to paragraph (6)(b), every client shall appoint -
(a) a planning supervisor; ...
(2) The client shall not appoint as principal contractor any person who is not a contractor.
(3) The planning supervisor shall be appointed as soon as is practicable after the client has such information about the project and the construction work involved in it as will enable him to comply with the requirements imposed on him by regulations 8(1) and 9(1).
(5) The appointments mentioned in paragraph (1) shall be terminated, changed or renewed as necessary to ensure that those appointments remain filled at all times until the end of the construction phase.
(6) Paragraph (1) does not prevent-
(b) the appointment of the client as planning supervisor or as principal contractor or as both, provided the client is competent to perform the relevant functions under these Regulations.
The planning supervisor is mandated to provide a detailed written notice of intended construction works before work commences and as soon as the specified particulars are known. The notice must be in writing and also copied to the contractors.
7.- Notification of project
(1) The planning supervisor shall ensure that notice of the project in respect of which he is appointed is given to the Executive in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4) unless the planning supervisor has reasonable grounds for believing that the project is not notifiable.
(3) Notice containing such of the particulars specified in Schedule 1 as are known or can reasonably be ascertained shall be given as soon as is practicable after the appointment of the planning supervisor.
(6) Any notice required by paragraph (5) shall -
(a) be in writing or such other manner as the Executive may from time to time approve in writing;
(b) contain such of the particulars specified in Schedule 1 as are relevant to the project; and
(c) be given before the contractor or any person at work under his control starts to carry out construction work.
Generally, the client cannot allow construction work to begin until a proper health and safety plan, complying with regulations, has been prepared.
10.- Start of construction phase
Every client shall ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the construction phase of any project does not start unless a health and safety plan complying with regulation 15(4) has been prepared in respect of that project.
The client must ensure that the planning supervisor appointed is provided with full information concerning the state of premises before work commences. The client must take proper steps to find out the specific information that is required by regulations.
11.- Client to ensure information is available
(1) Every client shall ensure that the planning supervisor for any project carried out for the client is provided (as soon as is reasonably practicable but in any event before the commencement of the work to which the information relates) with all information mentioned in paragraph (2) about the state or condition of any premises at or on which construction work included or intended to be included in the project is or is intended to be carried out.
(2) The information required to be provided by paragraph (1) is information which is relevant to the functions of the planning supervisor under these Regulations and which the client has or could ascertain by making enquiries which it is reasonable for a person in his position to make.
A principal duty of the planning supervisor is to prepare a comprehensive health and safety plan in a timely manner. The plan must be prepared before work begins. The plan, beyond general information, must identify any known or foreseeable risks to health and safety. The contractor must maintain the health and safety plan until the end of the project. Note that the risks forseen must include those to others, not just site workers.
15.- Requirements relating to the health and safety plan
(1) The planning supervisor appointed for any project shall ensure that a health and safety plan in respect of the project has been prepared no later than the time specified in paragraph (2) and contains the information specified in paragraph (3).
(2) The time when the health and safety plan is required by paragraph (1) to be prepared is such time as will enable the health and safety plan to be provided to any contractor before arrangements are made for the contractor to carry out or manage construction work.
(3) The information required by paragraph (1) to be contained in the health and safety plan is -
(a) a general description of the construction work comprised in the project;
(b) details of the time within which it is intended that the project, and any intermediate stages, will be completed;
(c) details of risks to the health or safety of any person carrying out the construction work so far as such risks are known to the planning supervisor or are reasonably foreseeable ...;
(4) The principal contractor shall take such measures as it is reasonable for a person in his position to take to ensure that the health and safety plan contains until the end of the construction phase the following features:
(a) arrangements for the project (including, where necessary, for management of construction work and monitoring of compliance with the relevant statutory provisions) which will ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all persons at work carrying out the construction work and all persons who may be affected by the work of such persons at work, taking account of -
(i) risks involved in the construction work,
(ii) any activity specified in paragraph (5); and
(i) the activity may affect the health or safety of persons at work carrying out the construction work or persons who may be affected by the work of such persons at work, or
(ii) the health or safety of the persons at work carrying out the activity may be affected by the work of persons at work carrying out the construction work.
The principal contractor in charge of a project shall ensure that all sub-contractors and workers on a project comply with all requirements of the plan for health and safety. The contractor must make sure that only authorised persons are allowed to enter the construction site. The plan must be in writing, and everybody involved must be made aware of the rules and requirements it contains.
16.- Requirements on and powers of principal contractor
(1) The principal contractor appointed for any project shall -
(b) ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that every contractor, and every employee at work in connection with the project complies with any rules contained in the health and safety plan;
(c) take reasonable steps to ensure that only authorised persons are allowed into any premises or part of premises where construction work is being carried out;
(3) Any rules contained in the health and safety plan shall be in writing and shall be brought to the attention of persons who may be affected by them.
Employer's Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969:
Employers must always ensure that they have proper and sufficient insurance covering liabilities arising from injury, death or disease suffered by their employees as a result of their work.
s.1 Insurance against liability for employees.
(1) Except as otherwise provided by this Act, every employer carrying on any business in Great Britain shall insure, and maintain insurance, under one or more approved policies with an authorised insurer or insurers against liability for bodily injury or disease sustained by his employees, and arising out of and in the course of their employment in Great Britain in that business, but except in so far as regulations otherwise provide not including injury or disease suffered or contracted outside Great Britain.
Employer's will always be given certificates of insurance that must be displayed for the information of employees. Statutory agencies must be given sight of the certificates when required.
s.4 Certificates of insurance.
(2) Where a certificate of insurance is required to be issued to an employer in accordance with regulations under subsection (1) above, the employer (subject to any provision made by the regulations as to the surrender of the certificate) shall during the currency of the insurance and such further period (if any) as may be provided by regulations -
(a) comply with any regulations requiring him to display copies of the certificate of insurance for the information of his employees;
(b) produce the certificate of insurance or a copy thereof on demand to any inspector duly authorised by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this Act and produce or send the certificate or a copy thereof to such other persons, at such place and in such circumstances as may be prescribed by regulations;
(c) permit the policy of insurance or a copy thereof to be inspected by such persons and in such circumstances as may be so prescribed.
It is a criminal offence for any employers, including companies, to fail to insure their workers. Directors and officers of a company can be held personally liable, and punished accordingly.
s.5 Penalty for failure to insure.
An employer who on any day is not insured in accordance with this Act when required to be so shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F1level 4 on the standard scale]; and where an offence under this section committed by a corporation has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or facilitated by any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the corporation, he, as well as the corporation shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Occupier's Liability Acts 1957 & 1984:
The Occupier's Liability Act 1957 codified the common law rules governing the degree of care owed to lawful visitors to premises, and civil liabilities. The law recognised that a special duty was owed to children due to their curiousity, foolishness and ignorance as to danger. By implication, the controller of premises must do everything reasonable to keep them safe and secure.
Occupier's Liability Act 1957
s.2 Extent of occupier's ordinary duty
(3) The circumstances relevant for the present purpose include the degree of care, and of want of care, which would ordinarily be looked for in such a visitor, so that (for example) in proper cases -
(a) an occupier must be prepared for children to be less careful than adults;
The Occupiers Liability Act 1984 extended the duty of care due to visitors to those who entered premises without invitation or permission.
Occupiers Liability Act 1984
s.1 Duty of occupier to persons other than his visitors.
(1) The rules enacted by this section shall have effect, in place of the rules of the common law, to determine -
(a) whether any duty is owed by a person as occupier of premises to persons other than his visitors in respect of any risk of their suffering injury on the premises by reason of any danger due to the state of the premises or to things done or omitted to be done on them; and
(b) if so, what that duty is.
Civil liability arises if there is a reasonably forseeable and accessible danger that the occupier has failed to give warning of, or discouraged persons from incurring the risk.
(3) An occupier of premises owes a duty to another (not being his visitor) in respect of any such risk as is referred to in subsection (1) above if -
(a) he is aware of the danger or has reasonable grounds to believe that it exists;
(b) he knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that the other is in the vicinity of the danger concerned or that he may come into the vicinity of the danger (in either case, whether the other has lawful authority for being in that vicinity or not); and
(c) the risk is one against which, in all the circumstances of the case, he may reasonably be expected to offer the other some protection.
The occupier is expected to do all that is reasonable, and to take all necessary care, to ensure that a legal or uninvited visitor is protected from any dangers present.
(4) Where, by virtue of this section, an occupier of premises owes a duty to another in respect of such a risk, the duty is to take such care as is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case to see that he does not suffer injury on the premises by reason of the danger concerned.
A proper attempt to give warning of danger, and to discourage persons from taking the risks, can be sufficient to avoid liability. However, "A notice without more is no defence in law".
(5) Any duty owed by virtue of this section in respect of a risk may, in an appropriate case, be discharged by taking such steps as are reasonable in all the circumstances of the case to give warning of the danger concerned or to discourage persons from incurring the risk.
Is Edward Ware fit for fiduciary duties?
