10/12/2025
Michael Appleby acted for the managing director of a construction company charged by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) with breaching section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA). This was on the basis that the health and safety failures of his company were due to his consent or connivance or attributable to his neglect. The prosecution followed an incident on 5 August 2021 at one of the company’s four construction sites where an employee fell from a step ladder sustaining injury.
The Prosecution
A week before the incident the managing director took over from the site manager while he was on holiday for two weeks. Unbeknown to the managing director the injured worker had not been briefed by the site manager on the formwork method statement and neither had he attended the working at height toolbox talk.
On the day of the incident, before leaving site to attend a client meeting, the managing director gave instructions to his employees in relation to the formwork for a concrete staircase. The term ‘formwork’ refers to a temporary mould into which concrete is poured and formed so that it can set to the required shape.
The injured worker was installing additional timbers to support the formwork on the ground floor. He was using an airgun and stood on the top of a 1.65m step ladder. One of his colleagues asked him to come down from the ladder because it was unsafe to carry out the work in this way. There were podiums available which the injured worker could have used. The injured worker did not heed the warning and fell.
In addition to prosecuting the managing director HSE also prosecuted the company for breaching section 2(1) HSWA.
The Defence
A few weeks after the incident the colleague gave a statement to the company’s insurers dealing with the injured worker’s personal injury claim detailing the warning that he had given. The statement taken by HSE subsequently did not include this evidence.
At the first appearance in the magistrates’ court on 6 September 2023 the company pleaded guilty. The managing director pleaded not guilty and elected trial in the crown court.
A robust defence statement was served on behalf of the managing director which pointed out that there were safe systems of work in place, that regular site audits were undertaken by external health and safety consultants and that the injured worker had ignored a warning of an obvious risk.
Before the trial the statement given to the insurance company given by the colleague was disclosed to HSE and HSE was invited to discontinue the prosecution. HSE’s solicitor responded that she had carried out a full case review and that the prosecution would continue. She concluded by inviting the managing director to reconsider his position.
Director Acquitted
On Tuesday 9 December 2025 at Southwark Crown Court after only 35 minutes the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. The company will be sentenced in the New Year.
Tanveer Qureshi of Libertas Chambers was instructed on behalf of the managing director.
This is the third acquittal of a director prosecuted for section 37(1) HSWA that Michael Appleby and Tanveer Qureshi have secured in 2025.
FSW Law are a London based law firm who specialise in Health, Safety and Environmental Law. If you have recently had a health and safety incident occur in your workplace and require legal advice, please phone us on 0207 993 6960.