13/10/2016
A production company has been found guilty of breaching health and safety laws after superstar Harrison Ford was injured on the set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2014.
Foodles Production (UK) Ltd, owned by Disney, pleaded guilty earlier this year to two charges brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and were today fined £1.6 million.
Whilst reprising his role as Han Solo, Mr Ford was struck by a metal door on the set of the Millennium Falcon spaceship and broke his leg. He was airlifted to hospital for surgery. HSE findings following an investigation revealed that Mr Ford would have been struck by a force comparable to the weight of a small car and could have been killed.
Failure to communicate the risk assessment
Foodles was criticised by Judge Francis Sheridan for failing to communicate its risk assessment findings to Mr Ford. In his judgment he stated:
"The greatest failing of all on behalf of the company is a lack of communication, a lack because, if you have a risk assessment and you do not communicate it, what is the point of having one?
"That is the most serious breach here." "If only they had included Mr Ford in all the discussions, he might have at least been alert to the dangers that he had to avoid."
Another example of a high fine being levied for a health and safety breach
This judgment is yet another in a string of recent high-profile cases where health and safety breaches have led to large fines. Since the Sentencing Council Guidelines for 'Health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences’ was introduced in February 2016, the Courts have been able to base fines on the turnover of the company involved in the health and safety breach.
The court heard that Foodles Production was a large company created for the sole purpose of making The Force Awakens, and had not made any profit. According to Company Check it only has a total net worth of £49,000. However, its parent company Disney has an enterprise value of approximately US$165 billion. This provided the Court with plenty of scope to impose a large fine, despite the UK entity’s guilty plea.
Fisher Scoggins Waters are a London based law firm who specialise in construction, manufacturing and engineering law. If you would like more information about any points raised in this blog, please phone us on 0207 993 6960.