Gaskells (North West) Ltd [2019] EWCA Crim 1380

The appellant pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to ensure the safety of employees. A fine of £70,000 was imposed along with costs of £99,806.57. A director of the appellant was also sentenced to 9 month’s imprisonment having pleaded guilty to two offences of being a director of a body corporate which committed an offence. A manager of the company had, two years earlier, been convicted of being a manager of a body corporate which committed an offence, and was sentenced to 9 months’ imprisonment. An employee was sentenced to 4 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years, for failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and others.

The company was a waste recycling company licensed to sort up to 50 tonnes of non-hazardous waste per day. The company had a baler which would frequently get blocked. In 2010 an employee was working on the baler when it became blocked. He opened the main chamber and went inside. The machine activated while he was inside and the ram crushed his lower body, amputating his leg. Others went to help nut none initially knew how to reverse the machine. The employee was eventually extracted but died later that day.

The HSE investigation found that the machine had been allowed to deteriorate over the years, there was no planned maintenance and an ad hoc system of inexpensive repairs. More importantly, the safety interlock switches had been deliberately bypassed.

In 2011 the baler was deemed safe to operate after works were completed and it resumed service. Similar problems arose, and the guard to the baler was disabled. After further investigation, it was said the only reasonable inference was that senior management, at the very least, failed to prevent the use of the interlock bypass to avoid loss of productivity.
The company and director pleaded guilty to the second offence on the basis that the condition of the machine had fallen into a dangerous state on three occasions. The second offence was treated as an aggravating factor of the first.

Held: the fine of £700,000 was quashed and replaced with one of £650,000 to reflect the proper degree of credit.