Jason Pitter QC and Adam Birkby prosecute largest Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome Case
Jason Pitter QC and Adam Birkby appeared on behalf of the HSE in the prosecution of Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions. The company was fined £500, 000 with costs of nearly £200,000, following an in-depth and complex investigation and prosecution that had run for a number of years. It featured legal argument in relation to delay, causation and decision to prosecute.
The allegations featured systemic failings over a number of years that exposed employees (in excess of a thousand) to the risk of harm whilst using hand held vibrating power tools. There were also failures to report incidences of occurrences of HAVS (RIDDOR failings). The case is the largest in terms of scale and the level of penalty of its type prosecuted by HSE and has received significant industry coverage and interest.
Media coverage of the case can be found here:
