Follow on Google News News By Tag * Employment Law * Commercial Law * Company Law * Latimer Hinks * Nick Poole * Responsibilities * Director * More Tags... Industry News News By Place Country(s) Industry News
Follow on Google News | Director's Responsibilities if Disaster StrikesLatimer Hinks Solicitors is sending out a timely warning about the legal responsibilities of company directors in the wake of the catastrophic explosion at an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico
By: Latimer Hinks Oil has been spewing into the Gulf of Mexico since a drilling rig owned by Transocean and leased by BP exploded with the loss of 11 lives. According to Nick Poole, the two most common offences for which companies can be liable are health and safety and environmental- He said: "Under the law, companies have a duty to safeguard the health and safety of their employees and also that of the public.” "Penalties for breach of health and safety laws can be heavy. Some of the highest fines imposed in the UK have been for the 2002 Hatfield rail crash with Network Rail being fined £3.5m and engineering group Balfour Beatty £7.5m.” Nick Poole added: "If a company is convicted of a health and safety offence, this opens the door to the prosecution of a director who agreed to or sanctioned the offending conduct or where the conduct could be attributable to neglect on the part of the director. The penalty for these offences is an unlimited fine or imprisonment.” The main areas covered by environmental legislation are air pollution, pollution at sea, oil pollution from ships and waste on land. Nick Poole said: "The legal system treats infringements of environmental laws in a similar way to contraventions of health and safety statutes with both the company and its directors being potentially legally responsible.” He added: "This oil rig disaster has thrown health and safety and environmental issues into the spotlight. I would advise company bosses to make sure they are up to date with current legislation and that they make themselves aware of their responsibilities and what systems and procedures they should have in place to prevent accidents or incidents happening.” # # # At Latimer Hinks we will provide clear, concise and practical legal advice to private clients, business and commercial clients and farmers, landowners and landed estates. Our objective is to deal with matters quickly and efficiently. End
Account Email Address Account Phone Number Disclaimer Report Abuse
|
|